


Where the Shadows Lie

by usa2z



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bodyswap, Corruption, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Genderbending, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2020-01-13 09:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 99,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usa2z/pseuds/usa2z
Summary: Davis receives a pair of rings that switch bodies. Chaos ensues.





	1. The Mysterious Package

Davis:

  
"Come on!" Davis yelled; his thumb slamming on the joystick. "Come on… Come on… YES!"

  
After what must have been the 30th try he'd finally won the race with Riku. The first ten tries or so he had charged after him down the bridge, only realizing the shortcut after falling off the ledge by accident… how long had it taken? It didn't matter. There was no way he would let his rival win with that at stake.

  
"Looks like I'm eating the fruit with Kairi." The gogglehead said aloud. He walked his character to speak with Riku.

  
"Oh that paupu thing?" Riku said. "That was a joke. You should have seen the look on your face."

  
"What?" Was all the player could say.

  
"Are you upset or something? It was only a joke."

  
"I really hope this game lets me kill you."

  
It was then that Davis' game was interrupted by the telephone ringing. He answered it. "Hello, it's Davis, erm Daisuke." He caught himself at the end. Defiantly it was better to answer the phone with his given name than a foreign nickname. It wouldn't have mattered though. He recognized the voice of a boy from his soccer team in the reply.

  
"Sup Captain?" He said. "I was meeting some of the team down at the park by the school. You wanna come?"

  
Davis had just gotten a new videogame. Did he want to put it on hold? He thought for a split second… the game would keep, but this wouldn't.

  
"Sure thing." The gogglehead replied. "Meet you there in a second."

  
"See you there." The boy said hanging up. Davis left his room and walked toward the apartment's front door. As he grabbed the knob though his mother voice called to him.  
"Daisuke," she said "you have a package."

  
He turned around. Mrs. Motomiya held out to him, amid a pile of mail, a small rectangular cardboard box. The box had a base only slightly larger than the envelopes and a depth about half the length of his mom's finger. He took the box fascinated.

  
"I don't remember the last time got a package." He said.

  
"Did you order something on that computer of yours?" Mrs. Motomiya asked suspiciously.

  
"No." He replied excitedly. "It must be a gift from a friend."

  
His mother seemed to trust him. "Alright, but if I find anything fishy in my bank statement you're in trouble." She said. "And next time say something before you go out." She then walked away. Davis took the package up to his room. "DemiVeemon has to be bored watching me play games all day." He thought. "I'll show him this before I go. It ought to brighten his day." The tiny dragon was asleep in the corner when Davis returned to his room. He had been when he started the game. The googlehead bent down and woke him.

  
"What is it partner?" DemiVeemon asked.

  
"I got something in the mail!" Davis replied.

  
"What's mail?" The digimon asked.

  
"Um, it's when your friends send you messages and stuff."

  
"You mean like with the D-Terminals?"

  
"Yes actually." The human replied. "Except sometimes presents come in the mail too! That's called a package."

  
DemiVeemon rose to his feat, suddenly exited. "Did one of your friends send you their Digi-Egg!?"

  
Perhaps the D-Terminal analogy was a step in the wrong direction. "No, I don't think the package is big enough for a Digi-Egg to fit." Davis said.

  
His partner was puzzled. "It looks about the same size as a D-Terminal, an Digi-Eggs fit inside of them."

  
Davis chuckled. Obviously the tiny creature had more to learn about the human world. Still, who knows what new projects Izzy was working on? Maybe he had sent him a new D-Terminal, or something even better! The gogglehead tore off the cardboard top and found a folded piece of paper over the package's contents. Lifting up the paper he saw… something unexpected beneath.

 

Surrounded by felt were two black rings small enough to go around his finger. Each had rectangular red gem stones on top, the long sides sticking off the ring itself. This did not look like Izzy's work. He did not know whose work it looked like at all.

  
"What's in it Davis?" DemiVeemon asked.

  
"Some kind of rings." Davis said puzzled. He set the box down so that his partner could look inside. Fascinated, the blue dragon lifted one of the rings in his arms and began to examine it. Davis turned his attention to the folded paper. Unfolding it he found a note written on the inside. He began to read.

  
"To the worthy recipient:

  
The rings enclosed are my gift to you. Any two people that put on the rings will switch bodies."

  
"No way!" Davis thought, but he kept reading.

  
"This effect will only work once every 24 hours. Attempts by any two individuals to use the rings within this time will fail. As a reminder of this, the jewels will automatically rotate 180 degrees after a switch. Any attempt to switch with the jewels in this position, even after 24 hours, will fail. This allows the rings to be worn as jewelry without risk of an unwanted switch. The jewels can be rotated manually at any time, however returning them to their initial position within 24 hours of a switch will not enable switching prematurely. "

  
"What does it say?" DemiVeemon asked. Davis looked down to see his partner staring up at him.

  
"Apparently if you wear the rings you switch bodies." He said giggling. Still curious he kept reading the letter.

  
"Information associated with language is left behind during switches. This means that someone in another person's body will be able to speak, write, and understand any languages the other person could and no others. They will also instinctively speak in whatever dialect the other person naturally spoke and will only be able to convincingly replicate dialects the other person could."

  
"Yeah, this is total crap." Davis thought.

  
"Awesome!" DemiVeemon yelled. "Let's try it!"

  
Davis was surprised. "Really Veemon?" he said.

  
"Come on Davis! You know it will be fun!" His partner replied.

  
Davis decided to humor him. "Alright." He picked up the other ring and slipped it onto his finger. DemiVeemon attempted to slide the ring he was holding over one of his arms, but it fell to the ground as he weakened his grip.

  
"Um, could you help me please?" He asked.

  
"Sure thing buddy." Davis said as he bent down to pick up the dropped ring. Still bent over he slid the ring over his partner's arm, and then, for the next split second, his vision went black. He tripped and felt his back hit the floor.

  
As sight returned to him the goggle-head could not believe what he saw. Dominating his view was a white torso with scaly blue limbs poking out. One of the limbs was half covered by a monstrously large black ring. He clinched in shock, and the scaly limbs moved at his command. He looked up and saw his own standing body towering above him, looking down with a smiling face. "You see, this IS fun!" It said. Davis looked back down and saw the blue and white body he now recognized as DemiVeemon's. He lifted "his" fingerless arms to his face and felt the rough scales angst soft flesh. He couldn't believe it… they really had switched bodies!

  
"I…" "this…" He stuttered.

  
"You okay partner?" The newly made human asked. It sounded deeper than Davis remembered his voice to sound.

  
"I… I'm just really shocked." The shrunken boy said. The words sounded MUCH deeper than the high squeaky voice he remembered of DemiVeemon. "I didn't think that would work."

  
"Why not?" DemiVeemon asked.

  
"Stuff like this just doesn't happen in the real world." Davis said. "Are you telling me it happens in the Digital world?"

  
"No," DemiVeemon replied. He appeared to begin thinking. "I don't think I've ever seen it happen in the Digital World either, but then again I've only spent one night there out from under my Digi-Egg…"  
Davis looked at the ring… no not a ring; on DemiVeemon's body is was more of a large armband. Whatever it was, he noticed the red gem had turned; the long sides where now lined up with the ring itself. He remembered what that meant.

  
"We can't switch back until this time tomorrow…" He murmured.

  
"What's the matter partner?" DemiVeemon asked.

  
"This is freaky." The former human said. "This isn't what I'm supposed to be. How are you so okay in such a different form?"

  
"I take a different form twice every day." The former digimon replied. He seemed puzzled that he was even having this conversation. "Is it the size change that bothers you? It is kind of a bummer shrinking down when I come to the real world…"

  
"Humans just don't change like this." Davis said. "For us it should take years to change size not seconds, and it should only go one way."

  
"That's boring." DemiVeemon replied. "Come on Davis, don't tell me you've never wondered what it was like to be a digimon. I know I've wondered what it's like to be human."

  
His partner had him there. Davis had indeed wondered what it was like to be a digimon. Most of the creatures he'd seen had been superhuman in power. Who hadn't fantasized about being able to fly or having super strength? Heck, it seemed more natural for a digidestined to wonder this than anyone else. Everything special they had done, they'd done through their digimon partners. How could they be so close to such power and not long for a taste? The change still creeped him out, but now he just had to have that taste.

  
"You're right." Davis said. "We go into the digital world tomorrow right? I think I am going to like doing digimon things."

  
"Awesome!" Came the reply. "I know I'm going to enjoy doing human things." There was a pause. "What are those?"

  
Davis chuckled. "I was going to play soccer in the park a minute ago." He said. "Do you know how to get to the school? It's right that way." He wasn't prepared for the reply.

  
"What's a park?" DemiVeemon asked. "How do I play soccer?"  
…  
It was then that it dawned on him just how little the dragon had seen of this world. If he wasn't fighting in the digital world he was sleeping in his room… Wow… He really needed this switch didn't he? Any doubts the former gogglehead had about it melted away.

  
"Soccer is easy. You just kick a black and white ball into a net where the other team is while they try to kick the ball toward a net where your team is." He said. He knew the game was much more involved than that but he didn't want to discourage his partner. "As for the park it's that green field with the nets we pass by on the way to school. Do I need to explain how to get there?"

  
"Oh that place? I can get there fine." DemiVeemon said. "I see all the stops you make on the way to school from that hole in your bookbag."

  
"There's a hole in my bookbag?" Davis asked.

  
"Yeah, right next to that brown stain on the inside." His partner said… When did that get there? No matter, by now the team was probably waiting for him.

  
"You sure you can make it on your own?" He asked.

  
"Positive. Anything else I should know before I leave?"

  
"Not that I can think of." Davis said. "See you later."

  
"Seeya" his partner turn toward the door. He stared at it for a second and started fumbling with the knob.

  
…

  
"Do I have to explain how to open doors?" Davis thought

  
The door clicked open before he could say anything. The former human could swear he heard his partner squee with delight. As he walked out the door Davis thought "How worried should I be?"

  
The first big worry came once DemiVeemon was out of earshot. He hadn't closed the door when he left, giving his family an easy view into his room. They could see his bizarre package and him in his new body. He walked behind the door and began pushing. It moved… slowly.

  
"Come on!" He said grunting. He pushed harder and the door sped up, and then clicked shut.

  
Davis took a deep breath… Had he just struggled to close the door? How could a digimon be weaker than he was? He'd seen these things burst though rock walls in the digital world. What level where those digimon? Champions? Is an in-training that much weaker? Did Veemon gain and loose that much power every day?

  
"Being a digimon is crazy." He said out-loud.

  
Whatever… time for "digimon things." What did DemiVeemon do when he was away? Sleep. Sleep sleep and more sleep. He did feel really tired…

  
"I could sleep as a human." Davis said disappointed. "There has to be something else…"

  
He looked over toward the TV. It was still on, as was his game console. The controller was on the floor… He looked at his stubby fingerless arms… He could play games as a human too, but somehow it seemed more interesting like this. He walked up to the controller and pressed his arm against the joystick. Sure enough his character moved, just as if he had used his old thumb. He found his other arm could press the buttons just as well too. He couldn't pick the controller at the same time as either of those things, but it seemed he was small enough to look up at the TV and not have to hold it. The heartless came, the keyblade appeared, and then the heartless fell just like they had in the tutorial… okay not quite that easily. This method was still kind of awkward to someone who had gamed with thumbs all his life, but hey this game was new, no built in reflexes to work against. Riku sank into darkness and the giant heartless appeared…

  
It was then that Davis realized that the soccer team would see his body play with the skill of someone who didn't even know how to play the game this morning… He would be a laughing stock. The gogglehead knew he hadn’t been giving the team as much attention as he did before he was a digidestined, and he did not know how the team felt about it. Would this be a the last straw? Would they want a new captain? He couldn't let that happen! NO! He couldn't lose the team he'd inherited from Tai!

  
Then the heartless killed him… he needed his head in the game with this body…

  
"What do I care if they pick a new captain?" Davis said as he reloaded. "I'll just switch with him and it'll be like nothing happened."

  
He was joking with himself. They couldn't they replace him that easily. After he blocked Ichijochi he couldn't see them wanting to anyway. He might have face to make up after they saw DemiVeemon play, but surly it was nothing he couldn't do with a little extra work. Nothing to fear. Still, it did make him wonder. If he were to permanently switch with someone who would it be? The prime minister? Michel J Barton? Tai?

  
Davis laughed. "Like I could ever be Tai!"

  
Really he couldn't image taking on the new responsibilities any of those options would require. Sure, getting bigger didn't seem so bad after being smaller now, and a new name would be easy too. He'd more or less changed names amongst his friends anyway after he saw that Barton movie and took his English nickname. He was still happy in his life though; he wouldn't give it up so easy.

  
"I wonder what Veemon would think?" He said as his character reappeared on Destiny Island. "I'll ask him when he gets back."

  
He had thought enough. All of the heartless he encountered died, including the giant. Somewhere in Traverse Town, however, his new body's demand for rest got the better of him and he fell asleep right there…

….

…

…

…

…

…

The sound of his alarm woke him. He reached over for the snooze button and felt… what?

Davis then realized he was lying forward on top of a giant PS2 controller. He stepped back in shock and saw scaly blue arms in the corner of his eye. On one of the arms was… oh yeah.

He looked over toward the bed and saw his own body turn off the alarm. "Morning partner." DemiVeemon said.

"Morning Partner." Davis repeated.

It was real. He had thought it was a dream, but he was really DemiVeemon… This was going to be an interesting day.  
DemiVeemon got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. He opened the door and stepped in… this was going to be an awkward morning… might as well run with it. Did Davis need to go too? He didn't feel he needed to. A body as small as DemiVeemon's didn't need to eat or drink a lot, and all the sleeping he did made him need even less food and water, so he didn't have to go often. It was good for both of them. He still remembered having to figure out how DemiVeemon would use a toilet twice as big as he was when first got here. They found Davis would have to hold his partner over the toilet while he relieved himself. It was awkward enough to do that for the lizard… to ask his partner to do it for him? That was to embarrassing for the former human to think about.

DemiVeemon stepped out of the bathroom and asked him a bizarre question "Um, how do you digivolve?"

What?

"Humans don't digivolve?" was all Davis could say..

"Yeah you do, like when we go to the digital world." The naïve human said. "I digivolve to then but I don't when I go in there. How do you do that every morning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Davis said.

"You go in there every morning and come out different looking. How do you do that?" DemiVeemon asked.

Different looking? Wait… was DemiVeemon wearing the same clothes that he had on yesterday afternoon? He didn't know how to change clothes... Of course he didn't. How would he know that? Did he care to explain?

"Never mind, we don't need to look different today." Davis said. No one would notice him in the same clothes two days in a row right? The conversation was already too awkward to continue…. Wait a minute? If he didn't know that how had he gone to the bathroom on his own in his body? They had been switched half a day now. Had DemiVeemon wet himself in his body? Had he done it in front of the team? Did he dare ask?

Davis smelled his partner as best he could. He smelled clean. That meant he hadn't done it right?

"You did use the toilet okay last night right?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, perfectly." DemiVeemon said. "The guys on your team explained it well."

"What?"

"I asked the guys on your team how to use the toilet as a human and they were happy to explain." The naïve human said. "They laughed the whole time."

Davis would have much, much more face to make up with his team than he thought.

He stared at his partner for a few seconds. "You okay partner?" DemiVeemon eventually asked. "Did you get something in your eye?"

"It's not his fault." Davis whispered himself. He told his partner. "I'm fine. Do you know how to get to school?"

"Yep" the former dragon announced excitedly. He walked to Davis' bookbag and picked it up. "You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

DemiVeemon picked him up and placed him inside. He took the ring from his arm as he did.

"I don't know about you but that ring looks ugly on my arm." The former digimon said. He slipped the ring off his own finger and set both inside the bag with Davis. He looked at the zipper. "I just do what I did to open it in reverse to close it right?"

"Yes." Davis replied. Everything went dark as he did… expect for one tiny ray of light. He walked toward it and found a small hole roughly the size of his new eye. Looking through it he saw his room… then his hallway… then the outside. He looked back into the bookbag… Yeah he'd definitely rather view the scenery than stumble in the dark. No wonder his partner knew the way so well. He realized as they approached the school that DemiVeemon had been carrying the bookbag in his hand the way there. As if he could hear his thoughts, Davis felt the former dragon lift up the bag and hold it front of him for a second then place it correctly on his back. He must have been mimicking what the other kids were doing. He walked through the hall then sat in, what hopefully, was Davis's desk. Davis could see another kid sitting at a desk through the hole.

"That must be how he knew to sit at a desk." Davis thought. How did he know which one?

He didn't. Within the minute he heard another student complain about "Davis" being in her seat. He felt him pick up the bag and take him elsewhere. Another kid made the same complaint within the next minute and guided "Davis" to the correct seat.

He heard the teacher begin lecturing soon after that. DemiVeemon was stuck sitting through history instead of him. It was finally something to be grateful for. It didn't take much feeling around to find his Gameboy in the bookbag, it was half as big as he was after all. He flipped the switch and the machine turned on. Now to angle himself right… oh come on… Davis quickly found he could mash the buttons well enough with DemiVeemon's arms, but they were just too short and the machine to big for him to be able to press the buttons and view the screen at the same time.

"At least I'm getting out of school." He thought, switching it off. "Half the time I sleep through history anyway, I'll bet it's easier in this body."

It was very easy…

…

…

He felt a hand touch him. Opening his eyes he saw his own body looking down at him, digivice in hand.

"Wake up partner!" DemiVeemon said. "It's time to go save the digital world!"

This time he was not surprised. His partner set the bookbag down on the floor and opened the zipper all the way. Davis looked around. He was in the computer room… had he slept through the whole school day? The other kid's digimon were all around him. Seeing them up close like this was… unnerving. Among them were, after all, a flying pig and a disembodied head. He'd gotten used to them at his own height, but now that they were as big as he was… heck even Poromon and Gatomon were kind of scary. Hadn't he gotten used to seeing giant monsters as a digidestined? It shamed him to think not.

He looked up and saw the other children. This was much easier. Being a kid he was used to seeing adults tower over him, and by now he'd gotten used to his old body doing it. Admittedly it was weird to see Cody this way, but it wasn't at all frightening. There was one pleasant sight, in fact, that outweighed all his unease: Kari.

"My god," He thought, "She's even prettier than before."

Maybe it was like how everyone seemed to like older kids or adults. She sure looked like an adult from this height…

"I think everything was already worth it."

"What did you say, DemiVeemon?" Kari asked.

Had he said that out loud?

"Erm, nothing," Davis quickly replied. "You ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." She said. She held her digivice to the computer.

 

"Digiport open!" She yelled. The others held their digivices up as well and, in a flash, they were off.

The world was slightly smaller to Davis then. The human kids were still bigger than him, but not by as much. He knew he had digivolved into Veemon. He moved his fingers… it was nice to have them again. The other digimon were still the same size as him but they were less monstrous in their Rookie forms…that comforted him too. Hills of sand were all around them. DemiVeemon was now wearing Davis's digital world clothes… he was looking at himself in curiosity.

"Davis, what are you doing?" Yolie asked.

"Ah, nothing." DemiVeemon said stopping abruptly. "Where are we going?"

"That way." Cody said pointing. The group looked that way and saw a control spire in the distance; a road in the sand went that way. Nothing happened to them as they followed it toward the spire.

Davis and his partner walked in the back. They, Davis in particular, were still fascinated by their new bodies and didn't want to attract attention from the others. The former human began flexing his muscles… they definitely looked bigger than what he'd known as a human, then again they were on a smaller body… Was he superhuman now? He felt stronger than he remembered… Could just be wishful thinking? Could he wrestle his humanized partner without everyone asking a million questions? Probably not.

The road soon reached a hill. From its top they could clearly see the control spire and the slaves the Digimon Emperor had left to defend it. A few hundred yards away there was a dinosaur with heads on its arms and seven or eight ghosts… Oh dear… He had seen those ghosts before.

"Bakemon" TK said. "Looks like eight of them."

So that was what they were called… He wished they weren't there.

"Anyone know the three-head that's with them?" Kari asked.

"Deltamon." Gatomon said. "They were never seen at all before the digital world reformed. Still extremely rare. They're also tougher than most champions."

"Can we take it and all the ghosts?" Yolie asked. "We're outnumbered almost two to one here."

"Dark rings don't work without the control spire." Cody said. He turned to his partner. "Do you think you can sneak up and destroy he control spire as Digmon?"

Armidilomon paused for a moment. "I think I can, but I'll need a distraction," He said looking up the Bakemon "specially for them flyin' ones."

"Distracting them will be easy." Gatomon said. "Three of us in the air should be enough to give them a good fight." She glanced at Patamon and Hawkmon and both nodded in agreement.

"That just leaves the Deltamon." Yolie said. Everyone looked at Davis… "You up for it Veemon?" Kari asked.

Davis looked at the Deltamon… It was easily the most monstrous creature he had ever seen. Somehow though he didn't fear it like he did the Bakemon. In fact, he felt relieved to fight it. He knew why. Davis had first seen Bakemon when they kidnapped him and his family. He knew it wasn't these Bakemon though, they were slaves. He should pity them right? That was the feeling he'd adopted for all of the emperor's other slave monsters, sometimes even the ones that attacked him. This fear shamed him more than any he'd felt that day. As ashamed as he felt though, it seemed to work out.

"I've got the Deltamon." He said.

"Great." TK said. "Everyone ready?"

They all noded.

"Then it's settled." TK said. "Digiarmor energize!"

 

"Patamon armor digivolve to Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"

Kari, Yolie, and Cody joined him. 'Digiarmor energize!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love!"

"Armidillomon armor digivolve to Digmon, the Drill of Power!"

"Digiarmor energize!" DemiVeemon yelled out. Before Davis could think he was shouting too.

"Veemon armor digivolve to Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"

He had barely felt the change from DemiVeemon to Veemon, but this he definitely felt. It was as though his body had become fire, yet he did not feel pain. He stretched out as the fire grew then he was solid again. He felt bigger, and much, much stronger.

All of the armor digimon moved out. Davis leaped from the hill and was halfway to his opponent in one jump. Deltamon looked up at him but could not react before he was upon him. Davis landed a kick in the middle of the monster's main head. The slave almost fell backward but it caught itself after a couple of steps. It lunged forward at Davis.

A deep scratchy voice from its snake headed arm. "Serpent Bite!"

The snake head lunged at Davis easily jumped back and dodged it.

"Fire Fist!" Davis yelled and a burst of fire shot from his arm. It struck Deltamon and the monster fell on its back. He jumped forward above the monster.

"Triple Force!" the monster said as purple lightning gathered in each of its mouths. The lightning shot toward him.

  
"Fire Rocket!" Davis yelled as fire surrounded him. He split the lightning as he shot through it and struck the dark ring. The dark ring shattered then the monster was quiet.

It was the most excited Davis had ever been.

"Gold Rush!" Came Digmon's voice and the control spire fell. Davis looked up and saw the Bakemon stop in their tracks. His friends attacks stopped immediately. The ghosts looked at each other in confusion.

"Wha, what happed?" One of them said.

"You were under the control of the Digimon Emperor." Davis said "We just knocked down the control spire."

One of the Bakemon floated down to him. Davis raised up his arms about to fire at the ghost.

"Thank You." It said. Davis lowered his arms.

"You're welcome." He said.

The Bakemon stretched out his arms. "Hug?" It asked

Davis hesitated…

"Okay." He too spread out his arms and the Bakemon embraced him.

"He… he feels like a marshmallow." Davis thought. He returned the embrace. "I'm sorry I was afraid of you." He didn't think he was anymore.

Pegasusmon broke their dark rings and the Bakemon were on their way, Deltamon soon after them. The armor digimon regrouped with their partners and changed back to rookie.

"Great to look down on you." Davis thought. His rival was in his eye right before he shrank down to Veemon.

"Well done everyone!" Kari said. It made Davis happy.

"Thanks." He said.

Davis couldn't help but think back to the fight as they walked back to the portal. He had leaped what must have been at least a soccer field in one jump and knocked a building size monster onto its back. He washappier with himself now than he ever had been. "We have to do this again." He thought. He didn't care about his partner's mistakes anymore.

They reached the portal and returned to the real world. Once again Davis was DemiVeemon. He looked around and saw the other digimon… they didn't frighten him at all now either. He was too happy for that.

DemiVeemon was about to put him in the bookbag when TK spoke up.

"Hey guys," he said to the group "you wanna come to a party at my place this Wednesday? It's my birthday."

"What a great way to ruin a party." Davis thought.

The rest of the group reacted better. "Awesome TK, happy birthday!" Kari said. "I'll gladly go."

Of course she was the first one to speak… ugh!

Yolie and Cody said similar things quickly.

"Happy birthday!" DemiVeemon said. "I'll go too." After all that happened yesterday Davis was surprised his partner knew what a birthday was. Was he happy for the blond or was he trying to mimic what everyone else was doing? Either way he'd just sent him to celebrate TK… Maybe he could send DemiVeemon in his body instead… Wait was he inviting the digimon too?

As if on cue Poromon asked "Can we come?"

TK frowned. "I dunno. Tai didn't think we should let our parents know more than they have to. I never did tell mom or dad about you new digimon…"

"I understand." Davis said seizing the opportunity. He looked to his partner. "You can have my fun for me."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive, the less humans know about us, the better." Tai had told him something like that when he became a digidestined. He loved it now more than ever.

Poromon looked sad. "Okay" he said softly.

Now Davis felt guilty… no it was how it had to be. Tai had said it and everyone else agreed. The less people know about the digital world the better.

"At least I'm out of TK's party." Davis thought… "Wait I still have to buy him a gift if DemiVeemon is gong don't I? Crap." DemiVeemon didn't seem to catch his meaning earlier anyway… "Looks like I might as well go... free cake."

* * *

  
Ken:

  
The Digimon Emperor sat glaring at a map on his computer screen. His next attack would require considerably less planning than what he'd just done, but planning it still required. Even if it wasn't plan A he HAD to have a better partner than Wormmon.

  
"Master," As if to spite him the pathetic creature chose then to annoy him. "um, the other kids may, um, have destroyed another control spire."

  
"Duh." Was all the emperor said in reply. Sacrificing one area was unfortunate but inevitable; he needed time he had already spent. Besides, he could always just take it back later. If anything the thought of spending more time with his worthless parents was the real sacrifice. Having to follow the orders of those nagging idiots sickened him, but the payoff, oh the payoff! If this last move went right it would not only sabotage his enemies but make his own reign eternal.

  
"Master?" Wormmon said.

  
"Leave before I find the whip."

That was all he heard of him that day.

* * *

  
Davis:

  
The former goggleboy stepped out of the bookbag onto his bed. "What a day!" he said.

"You said it." DemiVeemon replied.

Davis looked at the clock. More than 24 hours had passed since the switch.

"Can we stitch back now?" He asked.

"Aw come on Davis." His partner replied. "I had a great time learning about your world. I know you were having fun fighting as Flamedramon. Don't you wanna do it again?"

"I honestly do." Davis said. "But I have things I need to do in that body. We can always switch another time."

"That is true." The former dragon said. He picked up the rings. "Next time can we swap after coming back from the digital world?"

"So you can still be Flamedramon but then be me instead of DemiVeemon?" Davis had actually hopped for the reverse.

"Yes." The former dragon said.

"Maybe." Davis would probably allow it. He really did want his partner to see more the real world. "Just so long as you don't want to stay in my body forever or anything."

DemiVeemon slipped the ring onto his finger. "No offense Davis, but I wouldn't want to be human forever." He slipped the other ring onto his arm. There was a second of darkness, then Davis saw his tiny partner standing on the bed. He lifted his hands to his face to be sure… flesh on flesh. He was himself again.

"No offense taken." He said. The talk of permanent switches had reminded him. "Out of curiosity, if you were going to be someone else forever and you could pick who, who would you pick?"

The digimon's reply as immediate. "Patamon."

"Patamon?" Davis repeated. "Why him?"

The dragon blushed. "I think I love Gatomon. She… she clearly likes him tough. If I were in Patamon's body I wouldn't regress to in-training when I returned to your world… and," just speaking the words excited him "I could have her."

That was not the answer Davis expected… "We have the rings." He said. "Would you actually like to do that?"

The dragon thought for a second. "Only if you come with me."

"If I come with you?"

"You like Kari don't you?" DemiVeemon asked. "Switch with TK when I switch with Patamon, then we can be with Kari and Gatomon together."

"No." Davis said. He couldn't do it. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing TS in the mirror.

"We don't have to do it forever." DemiVeemon said. "Don't you want to go out with Kari just once?"

That was temping… No he still couldn't do it. Speaking to his partner he said "If I go out with Kari as TO once she'll keeping going out with him when I switch back…" then an idea came to him "…unless I ruined their relationship while I'm him."

The more he thought about it the crazier it seemed, but the more he liked it. A little less hygiene and a lot more awkwardness, and what girl would want to date “TK?”

"You wanna do it?" DemiVeemon asked.

Davis thought for a minute. "I think I do." He finally said.

"How do we get them to wear the rings?" The dragon asked.

The gogglehead thought some more… Could he really do it? … Should he really do it? ...Maybe …Yes. TQ deserved it.

"I think I know exactly what we're giving the boy for his birthday."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic has already been started on fanfiction.net. Those of you who read it there will notice a few changes to this chapter. Most of them are typo fixes, but the paragraphs where Davis worries over the reaction of his team to DemiVeemon playing for him and where he decides what he's going to do as TK were substantially edited. In the former case, I decided the original worries made Davis far to insecure and thus toned them down here. As for the latter, Davis originally said he would make Kari "hate him" as TK, which I realized could be interpreted in a lot of sinister ways I did not intend, so I changed it. Also the formatting has a major change. Before I just listed the order of POV's rather than stating them as they appeared. This was fine enough for this chapter, almost entirely done from one perspective, but with POV orders like "Davis – Veemon - Kari - Jun – Davis - TK" coming up I decided this would be better.
> 
> Author's notes for the fanfiction.net version can be found at: https://usa2z.tumblr.com/post/119506233400/where-the-shadows-lie-a-digimon-fanfic In the future, I will probably stop posting notes on tumblr and just do so here.


	2. Rebirth

TK:

The angel was in heaven, the spirits of trees all around him. He flew through the tree spirits on his white dovelike wings, the sword of kings seethed on his waist. As he flew he saw another angel in the distance, a woman with a halo of twelve stars was around her head. She flew toward him, into the ghostly forest, something terrible behind her.

"Help me, oh knightly angel!" She yelled to him. "For the dragon seeks to devour my child!"

Then the terrible thing came into easy view of the angel: a hideous dragon flying toward her as fast as he could on his leathery bat wings.

"Halt oh royal mother!" the dragon cried "halt and be eaten with the whelp inside of you!"

The angel drew the sword of kings and it was engulfed by holy fire. He flew past the royal mother and charged her pursuer. The dragon blew forth a stream of black fire, but the angel dodged it easily. He reached the dragon, and with one slash of his fiery sword the dragon's wing was severed. It roared in agony as it fell from heaven toward the Earth below.

"Praise to you, my angel." Said the royal mother. She embraced him in her arms.

"I have only done my duty." The angel spoke. They then shared a passionate kiss.

The sound of TK's alarm woke him up. He shut it off and got up. Normally he preferred dreams to waking; waking was followed by school after all, but today was a different.

He walked out in the hallway. A woman was there, not the royal mother of his dreams but his real mother.

"Happy birthday TK!" She said. "I made your favorite breakfast."

"Thanks mom." TK replied. They began eating together.

TK and his mother were usual in his country, they were both Christians. Daughter of a French missionary and a Japanese convert it was inevitable Ms Takaishi would be raised that way, and with TK's father out of the picture, it was inevitable he would be raised that way as well. They were, however, they only ones of their faith they really knew. TK felt that gave them a closer relationship than most mothers and children.

She finished before he did. "I need to get some work done before I take you to school." She said rising.

"Okay." TK said. She left and he began to finish on his own.

He thought back to his dream as he ate. He had become more devout since his first return from the digital world; he thought it was a consequence of literally acquiring a guardian angel. That devotion had its own consequence. Though rare, it was not unheard of for him to have dreams with images from the Bible. This particular dream was strange though. When such dreams occurred it was usually on Sunday nights, after worship. Some variation of this dream, however, had come not only on Sunday night, but Monday and Tuesday night as well. Why was that? Apparently something about that sermon had resonated with him… Did he have some reason to dream of defeating a dragon and getting the woman it perused?

"It's the plot of every fantasy novel." TK said laughing to himself.

That was probably it. The more he thought about it the more since it made. Everyone had dreams influenced by the media. He was dreaming of being a knight and rescuing a princess. What else would you call a "royal mother" after all?

* * *

Davis:

The gogglehead found it almost strange to see his Rookie partner in the real world. Even stranger was the coffee pot in his hand.

"You sure you can hold this form for 24 hours, bro?" He asked.

"I kinda need fingers if I'm going to put the ring on without you." His partner said.

"It might be more than 24 hours actually," Davis said "if TB doesn't take off the ring until after then."

"That's why we took the whole pot."

Davis remembered what Izzy had guessed about the digimon regressing to In-Training in the real world. He said it was to conserve energy. It looked like he was right; a little coffee and the blue dragon had fingers again. Mom and dad were going to be furious when they found out he'd taken the coffee maker… At least he wouldn't be the one to hear it.

"Save the next drink until after the time limit is over. No need to hold this form in the mean time."

"Good idea!" Veemon said. He hid the pot under the bed. "You sure you can get Patamon to wear the other ring by then?"

"Positive." The gogglehead replied. "I'll look like his partner after all."

He turned to the door. "It's almost party time." He said. "See you when it's over."

"See you then." The dragon replied.

* * *

TK:

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone yelled as TK blew out the candles.

"Thanks everyone."

Most of TK's friends and family had amassed at his apartment. They all sat together around a long composite table. The birthday boy sat on one end of the table, cake before him and a pile of presents on his left side. His brother and parents sat closest to him. Beyond them were the other digidesitned sans faraway Mimi.

The cake was quickly eaten. Tai and Kari were the first to finish. Both of them loved it much more than what their mother had severed them on their birthdays, or most any other time. TK guessed as much as he finished his next. The thought of presents after the cake hurried his consumption. How strange, he thought, that Davis was right behind him...

"He must really want me to open presents." TK thought. He then laughed internally. "Nah Davis hates me; he just really likes food." This made him curious, however. What had Davis gotten for him? "Will rubber snakes explode from the box when I open it?" When the others finished their cake he went straight for his rival's gift.

He did not find rubber snakes as he opened the box. Instead wrapped by velvet he found… a ring?

"Why yes Davis," he said picking up the ring. "I do!"

"Ha, ha, TS" Davis said. "I thought a valuable gift would be great help with a new friendship like ours."

Jokes aside TK was flattered by the gift. He examined the ring more closely as he slid it on. The gem looked like real ruby, though he thought that did clash with the blackness of the ring itself. "It looks like a gothic wedding ring." He thought further. "Yeah, I'm not wearing it again. It might be worth something resold, though." He then saw Kari in the corner of his eye. "Or maybe regifted."

"Thank you Davis" he said, moving on to the next present. The googlehead smiled.

"You're very welcome."

* * *

Kari:

Kari and her brother were the last to leave the party, even after Matt and his father. Tai had volunteered to help clean up, and, well, things still seemed to be awkward between TK's divorced parents. With Tai and Ms. Takashi tidying the kitchen, she and TK were alone together, lounging in the den. Kari was expecting Davis to protest as he left, but for once the new leader seemed fine with them together. It was great to see.

She remembered when her brother first introduced her to the Davis. He had been some underclass kid on Tai's soccer team. The boy just seemed so happy to be with Tai, and then to be with her. No one had ever been as nice to her as he was then. How could she not appreciate that? They were friends almost immediately. They still were friends now, but ever since TK returned...

"I wish I was the leader." Kari lamented inside.

Could she put a stop their fighting then? She didn't know, but she always felt like it should have been her anyway. She was Tai's sister. Shouldn't that have made her his heir? She knew it was irrational; it's not like they were a royal family or anything, but she just couldn't seem to shake the thought. She knew why her brother had picked Davis over her. If the smartest kid was meant to be the leader it should have been Izzy in the first place, not Tai. Tai had seen his charisma in Davis, the same charisma that he held the group together with four years ago. Heck, even applying the logic that says "the smartest one should be the leader" would probably put Yolie in charge of the new group rather than her…

"How do you like the scarf I gave you?" She asked TK as much for herself as him.

Summer would soon start but TK was still warring the scarf. "It's great!" He said. "I don't usually like getting clothes for birthdays, but, somehow, getting one from you seemed to make up for it."

Kari blushed. "Thanks." That made things a lot better.

"You wanna watch a movie?" She asked. "Yolie gave you that space film didn't she?"

"I don't think we have time." TK said. "There's probably something good on TV though."

"Okay" Kai siad.

As they watched she asked another question.

"What was your favorite gift? It doesn't have to be mine."

"I don't know." TK said. He slipped off the ring Davis gave him and held it up. "It probably ought to be this ring. I didn't expect anything that valuable, especially not from Davis of all people, but it would feel kind of awkward to wear it."

"Why's that?" Kari asked.

"I just don't feel right wearing a betrothal token from another guy," he replied "especially not Davis. I know that's not what it is but still… Do you want it? I know your birthday is in a few weeks. You can think of it as an early present."

That did excite her. "You don't have to do that TK." She said politely.

"I insist." He handed her the ring. "It will look great on you."

"Thanks a lot." Kari said taking the ring. She examined it closely. Black wasn't her color, but she did like the ruby. The fact that it came from TK also seemed to make it nicer. She slipped it on her finger. "I'll wear it tonight."

She heard a chuckle behind her. Turing around they saw Tai.

"We got the kitchen clean." Tai said. "You ready to go?"

"It is getting late." Kari said she turned to her host. "'I'm sorry."

"That's fine." TK said. He showed them to the door. "See you tomorrow at school."

As they began walking home Kari asked a question of her brother. "What was so funny?"

"Nothing." He said "I can't help but think of old times when I see you younger kids, and it's just kind of ironic to me."

"Ironic?" Kari asked. "How so?"

"Maybe that's not the right word." Tai replied. "I just think you and TK remind me a lot of Sora and Matt in the old days."

What did that mean? It made sense for TK to remind people of Matt; they were brothers after all, but what about her was like Sora of all people? She was about to inquire when something… strange happened. Was it this dark a second ago? Okay, now it's all bright. Wait what?

She wasn't looking at Tai anymore but at a pair of hands, the right over the ring finger of the left. She felt fingers touching each other. Why… where her hands that big before?

She stepped back and felt her back hit a wall… was she in a bathroom? That was very much what it looked like. What? Wasn't she outside? Yep, she was definitely in a bathroom now; there was a toilet to her left and a shower to her right. Was that Davis in front of her…? Davis what… was that a sink? Was that… a mirror…. Oh god… it couldn't be.

"Da.. Davis?" She said. "Is that you?"

The boy in the mirror mimicked her mouth movements. She heard a voice that couldn't possibly be hers…. She stepped forward and touched her hand to the mirror. The boy in the mirror touched his hand to hers. She felt glass against… her hand.

"Oh god."

She saw the mouth in the mirror begin to open… then it was dark again.

"Davis!"

A split second later she saw an older girl standing over her. She felt her back on the wall and her legs on the floor.

"Davis!" The girl shouted.

"I.." Kari stuttered. "I.. what's happening?"

"I heard you screaming and came to see you on the floor." The girl said. "What's wrong?"

"Daisuke, Jun what's going on?"

Kari looked over and saw two adults standing in the doorway. Were they Davis's parents? Wasn't that girl his sister? Yes, Jun, that was her name… why are they here… why had she called her "Davis?" Oh god.

"I… I'm him." She said… "I'm Davis."

"Dais… Davis what's wrong?" Mrs Motomiya asked.

"I… can I be alone?"

It was several minutes before they actually left her alone… They kept asking her questions. "What happened?" "What's wrong?" "Why did you scream?" What could she possibly tell them? "I'm not your son I'm his best friend's sister and I just arrived in his body?" They would never believe that. She kept assuring them she was fine. She was physically… wasn't she? Eventually she decided to say she had seen a big spider. That didn't seem to satisfy her new family but they stopped asking questions. Had they just realized questions weren't going anywhere? They left, but Kari suspected they would be back.

She stepped out of the bathroom. Was this Davis's room? She saw a blue mass emerge from beneath the bed… DemiVeemon.

"What just happened? He asked.

More questions.

"I'm as lost as you are." She said. "Can we please not talk about it?"

The tiny dragon frowned. "All right." He said. He looked over at the door. "Can you close that? They might see me."

After hearing their son scream and seeing him faint Kari doubted Davis's parents would want a door blocking their view of him… crap could they see them now!? She looked through door and saw no one…

"Could… could you hide under the bed some more?" Kari asked

The digimon did so nodding.

His new partner sat down. "Calm down." She thought. "Let's think this through…"

Was there any rational explanation for what happened? What was she doing before? Walking home with Tai? Was there anything there that explained why she became Davis… no… Hang on, if she was Davis who was he? Was he her? How could that be? What was the alternative? If Davis wasn't her then where was he? Had she possessed him or something? How would that hap…

She ran back to the mirror.

"Davis if you're in here I'm sorry." She cried at the glass. "I… I didn't mean to steal your body, honest. I'll give it back… once I figure out how."

She tired thinking about leaving this body…. That didn't work. Could she move her spirit like moving a body part? She stuck out her tongue… how did that apply to spirits? …If she was a spirit what did that mean for her body?

"I'm so so sorry." She said again.

What now?

"I need to know what happened." The current gogglehead thought… she needed to see her body. If nothing else that would tell her whether she had switched would Davis or possessed him or something else. It would tell her the "something else" option, right? Would it actually explain what that something else was? Would it actually explain any of the above? "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Could she get to her old house from here? She knew the way… no, the Motomiyas would never let their son walk several blocks after seeing him faint. What else could she do… telephone. Was there a telephone in here? Her eyes darted frantically…

"YES A PHONE!" She blurted out seeing one. "Okay clam down…"

She walked up to the phone and dialed her own number.

"If no one picks up they're fretting over my dead body."

The phone rang several times…

"Kamiya residence."

Kari recognized her mother's voice.

"Hello," She replied. "Is… Kari there?"

"Oh hi, Davis." Mrs. Kamiya said, apparently recognizing her new voice. "Kari isn't back from the party yet. I can take a message."

What should she say? "Actually, I am Kari" Would her mother believe it? Would Kari believe it herself if wasn't happening to her? She didn't think she would.

"Just have her call me back when she gets home."

"Okay Davis," her former mother said. "See you later." She hung up.

Well… she wasn't dead right? Wait… she was walking home when this happened. Would mom know if her body was okay? Kari tried dialing her own cell phone… no response…. That wasn't a good sign.

She sat down and waited. How long would it take her to get home from TK's? Maybe 15 minutes? Okay. If Davis were in her body would he just walk home casually with Tai? How would he react to becoming her? How would Tai react to that?

She sat down and waited. It was all she could do…

What would she do if the call didn't come?

"I'll go to the hospital." Kari thought. That's where Tai would take her body if something were wrong with it. Surely she could convince the Motomiyas to take "Davis" there after he fainted… How long should she wait? …Thirty minutes. That allowed Davis freak out time before heading back to her house…

"Yes that will work."

She sat anxiously…

Twenty minutes later the phone rang. Kari picked it up as fast as she could. Absolutely no one else could answer it.

"Davis, please tell me that's you!" She pleaded into the phone.

The reply was a weak "Yes… are you… Kari?"

It was how her voice sounded in recordings.

"Yes…" She said… they had switched. "Are you okay?"

"Well… I think so." The reply sounded confused. "Does the body switch count as not okay?"

"That's an excellent question." Kari responded "Do you have any idea how it happened?"

"Not a clue." The former gogglehead spoke. "I just finished washing my hands then I'm walking outside with Tai."

"Did you try to convince anyone who you are?" Kari asked.

"Tai thought it was a weird prank." Davis said. "I didn't bother with your parents. You think they would believe it?"

She didn't.

"You can try." Kari said. "You think anyone in your family would believe it?"

"Not in a million years." Her own voice replied.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Maybe it we'll switch back as suddenly as we switched in the first place." Davis suggested.

"Is that how it works?" Kari asked.

"It does in the movies." Davis said. "Usually after the switched people learn some new lesson about each other."

Was this really all they had to go on…

"Are you suggesting we just live out each other's lives and not tell anyone?" She asked. "That's also what happens in the movies."

"What would you suggest instead of that?"

She really didn't have a better idea…

"Just meet me before school tomorrow so we can trade locks and schedules." Kari said. It was the first complication she thought of. "If I can think of a better plan before then I'll call you."

"Okay." Davis said. "Anything else?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something before tomorrow." Kari said. "But for now I guess see you then."

"See you then." Davis said hanging up.

Kari hung up the phone… in the corner her eyes she saw the bathroom mirror though the open door… and Davis right then.

"I'll be seeing you a lot before then won't I?" She thought… looking in the bathroom she realized something else...

"Oh god." Kari thought. "I have to pee."

* * *

Davis:

Davis looked at himself in the mirror… was it "himself" anymore? He was Kari. He was… a girl.

He hadn't realized it at first. He'd just assumed TK was talking with Tai when he first landed in Kari's body. His idol had been staring at him waiting for a response. A simple "never mind" was enough and then they were walking… toward Tai's house. Then he received a call on Kari's cell phone… which was among her clothes… next to her pink digivice… it took all of his will power to walk "home" with a straight face. Tai's mother had told him "Davis" had called. He went straight up to her room to reply. Now…

He groaned at the mirror. "At least I'm not looking at TK."

Somehow he liked seeing the image of Kari saying those words.

"Davis I love you." "Kari" went on to say. "TK sucks. You're the only man for me, the most handsome man I know."

Yes that did please him. He moved his lips in to kiss her… His lips met with the glass…

Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

"What do I do now?" The former goggelhead thought. "Is is possible to keep to the plan? No, even if I can get TK to wear the ring, Kari will know about the switching; I won't be able to make her think I'm him."

"Damn it TK." He growled. "Why didn't you wear my ring?"

Seeing Kari speak those words displeased him.

Davis turned away from the mirror and left Kari's room. He resumed thinking in his new living room.

"Can I at least forget it and switch back in 24 hours? Will she still be wearing the ring in 24 hours?"

It wouldn't matter, he quickly realized. Even if Kari didn't take off the ring she would have to move the jewel for it to work…

"I should have told her about the ring." He thought. The thought of telling her the truth scared him both now and before. Part of the truth, after all, was what he had planned to do with her and TK. When he spoke with Kari on the phone he lied impulsively, and now, because of that he couldn't tell the truth. Even if he did not reveal his original plans he'd still have to tell her he lied over the phone. He really did not want to do that… but how could he avoid it now? He thought…

"I'll just tell her I 'figured out' the ring might be involved." Yes that would work… in fact he really liked it. He'd come to her after the 24 hours were over and remark how the jewels used to be the other way then "discover" their power with her as they switched back. He'd have to share the power with her then, but the more he thought about that, the more he liked it too. Surely they could bond over that, an amazing power only they knew about. It was how the digidestined had bonded after all… he'd just have to keep the others out of it, especially TK…

What about Veemon?

The thought hit him like a ton of bricks. Veemon would attempt to take the ring and put it on his own finger when the 24 hours were over. How would Kari react to that? He had to stop it! Could he just tell Veemon not to? How? Call Kari in his body and ask to speak with DemiVeemon? No, that wouldn't work, not after he'd told Kari they should pretend to be each other…

He began pacing up and down the living room floor. After several minutes an escape route still hadn't occurred to him…

He heard a voice behind him. "You okay partner?" it said.

The pacer turned around and saw Gatomon behind him…

"Oh I'm fine." He said. "I'm just um… taking a walk." It was immediately obvious just how unconvincing it was.

"Indoors?" Gatomon asked.

"Yes." He ran with it.

He cat stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decide what she thought, but then her eyes focused on Kari's hand…

"That ring…" She started. "Where did you get it?"

This could not end well…

"I… TK gave it to me." Could telling the truth work? That was the truth right? "What about it?"

"Oh… I'm sorry." She replied. "For a second that looked like my old tail ring… I guess I just really miss it."

"I'll um, ask TK were he got it next time I see him." Davis replied.

"Thank you Kari." The white cat said smiling very wide. "I'd really love that." She turned and began to walk away.

"I just told her I'd try to get her a ring like this!" Davis thought as she left. "At least I know I was right not telling Kari anything."

This lie seemed to have worked out though. Gatomon looked as though she had forgotten all about her current partner's bizarre behavior. What had that "tail ring" meant to her that a could-be replacement would take over her thoughts like that? Davis decided to count his blessings and not press it. Still… it showed he needed to act more like Kari, if only for the next 24 hours. He couldn't attract more attention than necessary… What would Kari do in her own living room? He looked around and saw a GameCube hooked to the TV… that would work well.

He turned it on along with the TV. Super Smash Brothers Melee came on. "Cool" Davis thought picking up the controller. He did not have this console at his own house but he had played it many times visiting Tai. "Time to check out singe-player." By the time he reached Master Hand he had almost forgotten where he was.

When the hand died Davis could swear he heard the sound of clapping behind him. He turned around… and saw Tai there.

"Congrats sis." He said. "I haven't seen you play smash in a long time, any special occasion?"

"Uh.. none." "Kari" replied. "I just want to play smash… that's okay right?"

"Of course," Tai said. "that's why the console's in the living room. I just haven't seen you do it in a while… I was actually coming to collect some more trophies."

"I wouldn't dream of keeping you from it." Davis said those words without hesitation. He began to hand Tai the controller… but then saw him reach for another.

"You wanna do two player?" Tai asked. "Smash is better for that anyway."

Davis smiled. "I'd love that." He said.

The first battle was very different than most Davis had played with Tai before. They were both using their usual characters; Tai Marth and Davis Roy, but somehow Marth was taking a lot more damage than usual. It wasn't until he had almost won that that Roy's player realized Marth's had been holding back. As his victory scene played Davis looked over and saw Tai in disbelief….

"What have I done?" Davis thought. He should have realized Kari would lose if she hardly played the game! Now Tai would be suspicious and… wait… was he smiling?

"Wow Kari." He said. "I don't know what's gotten into you but it's awesome!"

They continued to play for several more matches. Tai won most of them, more than normal Davis felt, but yet, he also felt as though he were having more fun than he'd ever had playing this game. Somehow, he felt Tai was too.

Eventually Tai's mom came claiming it was midnight and that Kari should be in bed. At first Davis didn't believe her… but the clock seemed to back her up…

"Can… we have a few more minutes?" Tai asked. Davis really hoped she would say yes…"

"You know better Tai." Mrs. Kamiya said. "Both of you have school tomorrow."

That seemed to be enough to silence him… within minutes Davis was back in Kari's room escorted by her mother. Gatomon was there to greet both of them.

"Hey Mrs. Kamiya." The digimon said. "Time for Kari's catnap?"

She laughed. "Yes it is," and reached down and petted the white cat. Gatomon purred in delight.

"Veemon would die for my mother to do that to him." Davis thought. "This must be what's it's like to be one of the first digidestined… wait I forgot about Veemon! "

Wait…

A devilish idea came to him… no, surely that couldn't be done anyway… then as his new mother left, he recalled how Gatomon had reacted to seeing the ring…

"You know this means you'll be stuck here for at least another day, right?" He could hear himself thinking. The reply was. "Is that such a bad thing?" Could he do it? Would Veemon be okay with this? "Didn't he say he wanted us to go together?"

He slipped off the ring and slid the jewel. "Hey Gatomon," he said. "You wanna borrow this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -insert opening theme here-


	3. Free at Last

Veemon:

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

As usual, the sound of Davis's alarm woke DemiVeemon along with his partner.

It always annoyed him; for a creature that needed as much sleep as him that was a given. Perhaps for that reason the first thing he noticed was how much longer it seemed to beep now than usual. Sticking his head out from beneath the mattress, the dragonspawn saw his partner's body fumbling around for the alarm. Did he not remember where it was?

"Of course he doesn't" DemiVeemon though.

Briefly as he'd been up, the blue dragon was not sure he'd remembered the events of yesterday before now or not. Either way, he did now. Davis's body eventually found the alarm and turned it off, freeing both of them from its annoying beeps. Looking that body up and down DemiVeemon noticed that TK was wearing the same skin he'd been wearing the day before, rather than the "pajamas" Davis usually wore to bed.

"Weird," he thought again "Why is TK digivoling funny?"

Going thought his memory again the digimon was positive that he had acquired the same new form Davis always did when he passed through the digiport the other day, and that Davis advanced up to Flamedramon and back as he normally did in his body. Could the rules of digivolution vary for the same body depending on who was in it? The tiny dragon knew he didn't understand the rules, nor did even the likes of Yolie or that Izzy genius he sometimes saw...

"What is that smell?"

Whatever it was it derailed any train of thought DemiVeemon had been on. He darted out from beneath the bed trying to get away from it. TK seemed to have seen him do it.

"Um, hello?" He said.

"Hello."

They stared at each other in awkward silence.

"Um... I... how did you sleep?" TK asked, seemingly trying to be polite. "

Well enough." DemiVeemon replied.

There was another awkward silence.

DemiVeemon realized if he had barely remembered what had happened the last two days as he woke up there was no way TK did. The dragonspawn felt even he as a digimon would have been surprised to wake up in an unfamiliar form. If Davis's reactions the other day were any indicator, humans would be even more surprised... For a moment he felt kind of sorry for him... but only for a minute. He didn't know much about this human, but his partner's dislike of him was enough to make the digimon distrust him. Add to that the knowledge that he was Patamon's partner and the sympathy melted away... didn't it?

"Of course it does." He thought to himself.

TK got out of bed. DemiVeemon could tell the smell was coming from him as he stepped forward... it took a lot of restraint not to step back.

"Um, I'm going to school now." The smelly human said.

He searched a bit for Davis's back pack. Upon finding it, he walked straight out of the room stopping only to say "Goodbye" as he shut the door behind him.

"Wait... what?" DemiVeemon said aloud.

Davis had gone to school almost every day since the blue dragon had met him. The first night, right before the day Cody and Yolie met Hawkmon and Armadillomon, he had spent in the digital world. The day after that was the first time Davis took him to school. He still remembered how exited he'd been to see the human world through the hole in his bag. Apparently he'd made a sound or two that had gotten weird looks directed at Davis as the day went by, followed by whispers from his partner to keep quiet. The third day Davis had left him behind. It was the only time he ever did that. DemiVeemon still remembered the look of shame his partner had that afternoon. There were times after that he'd left him alone in the room, but never for long... never all day. TK, it seemed, had. Perhaps he still pitied the boy somewhere. The thought disgusted him.

He didn't have much time to think about it before he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Davis' mom was no doubt coming this way. DemiVeemon knew the drill. He hid once again beneath the bed where she could not see him if she came in. The dragonspawn realized too late the smell was much stronger down there. He almost darted out from under it again, but restrained himself as he heard the door open. He turned so that his line of sight went across the floor, out the gap between the mattress and ground and toward the outside door. He saw what he knew by now were Mrs Motomiya's feet, and with them... Davis's? Had TK come back for him? The raised tone of the mother's voice quickly revealed otherwise.

"Daisuke, no! You're cleaning yourself now." She said.

"Mrs... Mom, I can't" TK begged back at her. "I really can't."

"You're not going out like that." She said. "No, I can't even let you stay home like that that. You're showering now."

The dirty human continued to protest, but Davis' feet moved to the bathroom along with those of his mother. Turning himself again he saw the bathroom door close in front of those borrowed feet, behind Mrs. Motomiya's. Another moment of awkward silence followed that.

"Son, please." The mother's voice eventually came. "You're worrying me... almost scaring me. You haven't done this in years, and after what happened last night..."

"It's okay." Davis' voice came cutting her off. "I'm fine. I… will do it. I'm sorry." He paused for a moment "I'm really, really, really sorry."

The sound of running water came after that. Mrs. Motomiya listened to it for a moment, then walked toward the bed. He heard the rustling above of her removing the sheets; she walked away with them, the smell gone. "That's a relief." He thought. Davis's mom returned quickly and replaced the sheets. She walked back up to the bathroom door then and waited for the running water to stop. When the door opened DemiVeemon saw his partner's shed skin in a pile behind his feet and Mrs. Motomiya's. The mother picked up her son's shed skin. DemiVeemon could see the ring behind them, though apparently neither of the current Motomioyas noticed it, as their conversation resumed.

"Son," the mother said again. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No." TK replied. "I don't, really."

"I don't know that I believe you. Honestly, I want to take you to the emergency room now."

"Please don't." TK replied "I... I really need to get to school today."

"Are you sure?" "

Yes very... I, ah, have a test today, first period."

Mrs. Motomiya sighed. She clearly didn't know how to respond to this either.

"Alright," she finally said. "But I'm getting you an appointment while we're out."

"Thank you... mom."

They left the room; after a while it was clear neither of them were coming back this time.

"So much for TK coming back for me." DemiVeemon lamented.

He turned himself to glance at both doors. Both of them were open. That stung. When the door was closed he could wander the room, but if the door were closed it meant he had to stay under the bed. In this case, it meant he had to stay under the bed the whole school day. He was trapped here until his new partner came back.

"Story of my life eh?" He thought.

Veemon, in this life at least, was born beneath Digi-Egg of Courage. He had formed with it, after Apocolymon had died and the digital world was rebooted. He didn't know that at the time though. All he knew then was that he had to wait there, all by himself in a small dark space, for his partner to come and free him. The older digidestined had told him he had waited there for four years.

DemiVeemon did not know how long four years was. He knew what a day was. He had never seen the sun of this world rise or set, and he had seen the sun of the digital world rise and set exactly once; those events meant little to him. He knew a day as the amount of time between Davis leaving for school each morning. He had a really good feel by now of how long that was. Apparently a year was three hundred and sixty five days, not that he knew how many "three hundred and sixty five" was. "Seven" was about as big a number as he could grasp. Apparently it was the amount of days in a week, the time between days Davis did not have to go to school. The blue dragon cherished that "Sunday" that came every week, and yet for the longest time he could never tell when another one was coming. He still remembered that first time Dais tried to count to seven for him on his fingers… the dragonspawn could only follow him up to two with his stubby fingerless arms… It took him many weeks to finally get a feel for how long seven days was. At least this time he knew exactly how long it would be before TK came back to free him. Like several times before when Davis was away, he told himself he wouldn't be confined for long. It would never be as long a wait as his early life had been.

* * *

Davis:

Davis woke up peacefully for the first time in months. At first he did not even realize it, assuming this another lucid dream. The only thing that seemed out of place about it was the location.

"Where have I seen this place before?" He thought.

It was when he saw Gatomon sleeping in the corner that he recalled exactly where.

"Kari's room." Davis thought. "Where have I seen…"

The black ring on Gatomon's tail reminded him exactly where… and how. He looked himself over and saw he was in Kari's night gown rather than his own pajamas. He touched his hand to his face… both felt smoother than his own ever had. He rushed over to the window and cold barely make out his reflection in the rising sunlight… Kari's reflection.

"I'm not dreaming." Was all he could say. Somehow it still felt as though he was.

He went downstairs and saw Tai's mother making breakfast.

"Morning Kari!" She said.

"Morning… uh… mom." He replied. "

It's almost ready." Mrs. Kamiya said. "I haven't seen your brother yet. Did you forget to wake him?"

"My brother?" Davis mumbled. "I don't… wait…" It was Tai. Obviously she was talking about Tai. Tai… was his brother.

"You alright honey?" Tai's mother asked. "

Yes, I'm fine." He responded. "I'll go wake him up."

He was almost there before she could respond. Awkward conversations would bother him even in his own body. To have one here… He knew the way to Tai's room already, and the bedroom door was open when he got there. He walked in to find his idol sleeping on his bed… He slowly reached out his hand and touched him.

"Um, hello Tai. Wake up…" Did he dare say it? "Big brother."

"Wha… oh." Tai's voice came. "Morning sis."

* * *

Veemon:

"7:04"

That was the reading DemiVeemon saw on the clock. Davis had told him to use the ring at 7:05, the time he had switched. As much as "7:0" confused him, he knew 4 came right before 5… the time was finally drawing near! It couldn't have come soon enough. The school day suck beneath the bed would have been bad enough had it not been almost dark by the time TK came up to the room and closed the door. The boy apologized when he complained about it. As much as he disliked TK he couldn't blame him. Judging from how long he'd stay downstairs and how eagerly he'd gone down again for dinner, the digimon got the impression he was uncomfortable being in Davis's room. At least he remembered to close the door the time.

"7:05"

It was time. Once again he crawled under the bed, this time to get the coffee cup. He slurped everything left in there down in on gulp…. Much to the chagrin of his taste buds…

"At least last time it was hot…"

On the positive side it filled him with energy almost immediately. He suspected digimon digested more quickly than humans, and given his size, he digested more quickly than most digimon. By the time the clock read 7:08 digivolution was upon him.

"DemiVeemon digivolve to Veemon!"

He crawled while under the bed one final time and slid toward the ring… or at least tried too. His larger form quickly got stuck between the floor and the mattress.

"Oh come on!"

He yelled stretching his hand out as far as he could.

"Come on… yes!"

His fingers barely grasped the ring and pulled it toward him. With the ring firmly in his grasp he tried to crawl out from under the bed…. But was still stuck.

'Whatever, it's Patamon's problem!" He thought.

He then slipped on the ring. For a brief second it was dark, then Veemon found himself in a room he did not recognize. "TK's?" He questioned internally. He stood up.

"Good to be unstuck" He thought.

Trying to walk around however, he immediately fell over.

"I should have expected that… Patamon walks on four legs when he's not flying."

He stood on four legs this time and took a few steps forward. He could walk around again, but of course that was nothing next to the real prize… flight. The dragonspawn had flown before, but only in his dreams. Ever since he had first seen Patamon fly around that first night after he had been freed, he had envied him. He began to flap his ears hoping to get airborne as he'd seen his rival do… nothing happened…. Wait a minute… this wasn't what he'd expected Patamon's ears to feel like. The felt short and curved instead of long and narrow… if anything they felt… catlike…. Wait a minute…

Veemon took a good look down at himself…. Instead of Patamon's yellow flesh he saw white fur and gloved catlike paws. He wasn't Patamon… he was… Gatomon. The door opened before he could react. In the precipice he saw Kari…

"Hey Veemon." She said.

"Davis?" the former dragon asked in response.

"The one and only."

What happened? Why are we Kari and Gatomon? Weren't we supposed to be TK and Patamon?"

"Yeah, I had to scrap that plan." Davis replied. "Birthday boy apparently decided to give Kari the ring before I got home to put mine on. I found myself in her body and thought, hey, you said you wanted us to go together."

"I wanted to date Gatomon not be her!" Veemon said. "I wanted to be Patamon… I wanted to fly."

Davis pulled out Kari's digivice. "You still can fly partner. We're going to the digital world tomorrow. You can fight as Nefertimon!" That was intriguing… "As far as dating her… I was upset about that with Kari too at first, but the more I thought about it it, the more I realized this was the best thing that could have happened to us on that front. We might not be able to make them hate TK and Patamon any more, but we can do better! This is the perfect opportunity to bond with them. How could you ever get to know someone better than literally walking in their shoes!"

"I don't think Gatomon has shoes."

It took a few minutes to explain he idiom.

"Kari, dinner's ready!" came a voice from behind them.

"Thanks mom!" Davis responded, turning around. "I'll be down in a second."

A human around the size of Davis's mother came into view. Veemon instinctively began to back away in fear she could see him. The strange human however turned and looked right at him.

"We're having fish again. I know it's your favorite." She said.

"No good!" Veemon thought.

In the surprise of the switch he had apparently let his guard down and been seen.

"You okay Gatomon?" she continued.

"Of course she's okay mom." Davis interjected. "You've know each other for years now. Isn't that right Gatomon?" Davis turned to his partner as he said that.

It was then that Veemon realized just what that meant.

"Yeah." He said "I'm better than okay."

* * *

Kari: 

Kari found the most peculiar sight returning to Davis' room after dinner. Sticking out from under his bed was a small blue torso…. apparently Veemon's. She approached trying to make sense of it. Whoever was in the dragon's body seemed to notice Kari come in.

"What's going on? What is this place? Why am I blue?"

"You aren't Veemon are you?" Kari replied.

"Veemon… no. I'm Gatomon."

So it was true…

"I'm not Davis either; I'm Kari." She replied.

"Whoever you are, can you get me out from under here?" Her partner asked.

Kari lifted up the bed a bit. It didn't budge much, but it was a enough to free the trapped digimon.

"Thanks," she said looking up at her. "Are you sure you're Kari? You look a lot like Davis to me."

"You look a lot like Veemon to me." Kari replied.

It was then that Gatomon looked down at her new body, no doubt seeing it in full for the first time. The look of shock on its face was apparent.

"Wha… what happened to us?"

"We seem to have switched bodies with Davis and Veemon." Kari replied. "I talked to Davis on the phone last night and met him in school today in my body. I'm assuming Veemon is in yours right now."

"I see." Gatomon said. "Do you know how this happened?"

"I don't know." Kari was about to reply when she noticed the ring on Gatomon's finger... "

That ring... I was wearing it when I got up… when I wound up in this body." She said.

"When you wound up in this body?" Her partner asked. "When was that? I just got here."

"Last night, as I was coming home from TK's party." She answered. She stuttered before continuing… "The party where he gave TK a ring exactly like that one…"

Gatomon looked down at the ring on her new hand, and her eyes widened. "Your body… Davis, was wearing a ring like this when he came home." She replied "I asked him where he got it and he said TK gave it to him…. He let me borrow it because it looked like my tail ring."

"And now you're wearing the ring as Veemon." It was true. "The ring must have been what switched us!"

Kari immediately went for the phone. "What are you doing?" Her partner asked.

"Calling Davis." The current goggle head replied. "We need to talk to him about this."

Her thoughts were running wild with possible conversation points. Most of them pertaining to where Davis found the rings and if they could use them to switch back. After a brief relay by her father, the former goggle head was on the phone.

"I… take it you're calling about Gatomon and Veemon." He asked.

"Yes actually.' Kari replied. "But there's more. Davis, I think that ring you gave TK is responsible for all this."

"What are you talking about?"

"Gatomon was wearing it before the switch, and now she's warring one just like it as Veemon. We were both wearing them too when we switched."

"I don't know." Davis replied. "Can a ring do that?"

"Probably not." Kari said. "But I can't think of anything that really could and this is the best lead we've got. You have to tell me, where did you get these rings?"

"I… don't… um… remember."

"What!?" Kari half-shouted "What do you mean you don't remember? " "

I guess I just forgot…."

"You have to remember something. Did you find them? Buy them? What?"

"I bought them…. at a store somewhere? I couldn't tell you the name of the place."

Kari was awestruck.

"Do you at least remember where you got them… like the general location?"

"I think it was in the mall…. Maybe. Does that count?"

That was a start….

"How can you not remember where you bought a jeweled ring? Kari asked

"Jewelry isn't something I'm normally interested in."

"Kari," Gatomon interrupted. "Is it possible for me to speak with Veemon?"

The chosen sighed.

"Davis," She asked. "Gatomon would like to speak with Veemon. Can you put him on the phone?"

"I'm not sure Veemon knows how to handle a phone," He responded. "but I can try."

After a few moments of engineering Kari could hear Veemon's now catlike purr coming through the phone.

"Hi Kari!" He said. "I told Davis to hold the phone up to my head for me." She handed it over to her partner.

"Veemon," she asked "when did you put on this ring?"

Leaning in toward the speaker Kari could just barely hear his response.

"Before I went to sleep, I thought it looked pretty and tried it on. When I woke up I was you."

"So we switched while sleeping…." She replied "From what my partner told me she switched with yours while they were both awake…"

Kari heard her own voice then "How much were you going to ask him? Holding the phone like this is awkward."

"It's okay Davis." Gatomon said. "That was the main thing I wanted to ask. You can talk to Kari again now if you'd like."

Davis agreed, and talk quickly resumed between Kari and him…. not that much of substance was said. Most of it was Kari asking Davis questions he didn't have an answer to. Eventually Kari hanged up in frustration. She looked up and saw her partner looking back under the bed.

"Coffee." She said. "Veemon was drinking coffee before the switch."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a coffee pot under here, like the one your dad drinks from." Gatomon replied.

Kari looked under the bed and saw it there too.

"I spent the last several minutes staring at it before you rescued me."

"That's bizarre…" She said.

"Veemon told me we swapped while he was sleeping." Gatomon continued. "How do you sleep while drinking coffee?"

"I don't know." Kari responded.

"Doesn't this all seem suspicious to you?" her partner added. "That they couldn't remember where they got these rings."

"Suspicious? Are you saying they're lying?" Kari asked. "That doesn't make sense… unless… unless they switched with us on purpose and don't want us to know."

The ramifications of that immediately came to her, and made her skin crawl.

"No way." Kari continued. "No way Davis would do that."

"Then explain the coffee." Gatomon replied. "Davis is an idiot and Veemon is even dumber. There's no way he knows what coffee is." Her partner replied. "He probably drank it before he went to bed not knowing the difference between it and water."

It was then that she remembered Veemon spent most of his time as DemiVeemon.

"Heck, that explains how you got stuck." Kari went on. "Stuff you eat and drink takes a minute to have an effect. He must have gone to sleep under the bed as DemiVeemon, then when the caffeine took effect it woke you up as Veemon."

"I guess." Gatomon said. "It still seems kinda unlikely to me."

"I can't help but think Davis stealing our bodies is even less likely." Kari said "Do you really think Veemon would do that?"

"I don't… think so?" Gatomon said. "I guess you must be right."

"I really hope I am." Kari thought. "I have to be, Davis is my friend. He would never do that to me… would he?"


	4. Monsters from the Past

Davis:

"Davis, it's cramped in here."

"I'm sorry Veemon, but we have to wait for Kari to show up."

The newly made girls were waiting for Kari and Gatomon behind the school. They had all decided they were least likely to be seen there than anywhere else, but Davis still wanted Veemon to hide in the book bag, just in case. Unfortunately for him, Gatomon's champion form left a lot less wiggle room than his usual in-training self. When Kari did show up she was quick to notice this.

"Why are you talking to your book bag?" She asked. "Is Veemon in there?"

"Yeah." Davis replied. "We can't have anyone seeing him."

"If anyone saw him now they'd just assume he was a cat." Kari said. "Give it to me, it's mine anyway."

Davis did so and Kari opened the bag, letting Veemon free.

"Thanks Kari." He said.

"Don't suppose you'd let me out too?" came a voice from the book bag on Kari's back.

"I'm sorry Gatomon, but you still can't be seen." The new goggle head replied.

"I figured as much." Gatomon whined. I

t was then that Kari seemed to notice the ring still on Veemon's tail. As she lowered him to the ground, she slid it off.

"I take it you want to try the rings again?" Davis asked.

"Yeah, and I'd rather not be Gatomon if they work." She said.

The former girl handed Davis the ring and he put it on. She then pulled a ring out of her own pocket and did the same. Nothing happened.

"Come on!" was all Kari could say as she stared at the ring on her finger.

"Looks like wearing the rings again isn't working." Davis said.

The former boy knew it wouldn't work as it had not yet been 24 hours, but he decided to go along with it anyway. He couldn't know too much about these rings if he was going to "discover" their power with her after all. Luckily, he'd had a lot of time to think up other scenarios. Making stuff up on the fly would have been hard for him.

"Maybe we need to put them on at the same time?" Kari suggested.

"I don't think we did when we switched in the first place."

"Just try it anyway" the new gogglehead simply groaned. "3… 2… 1…"

Again, nothing happened.

"Maybe the rings can't do the same switch twice?" Davis suggested. "Maybe we have to go back through Gatomon and Veemon."

"I'd be scared to try that." Kari replied. "What if that leaves us stuck as digimon? I don't want to be a boy, but at least this way we're still human."

"Honestly, I think I'd rather be human than a DemiVeemon." Gatomon loudly said from within the book bag. "No offense to you Veemon."

"None taken," Veemon replied "Honestly I think I'd rather have this body than be human, so we kind of agree." He chuckled at bit saying that. Gatomon did not reply.

"I think I'd rather be a girl than a digimon too." Davis said.

"Looks like I'm out voted then, aren't I?" the former cat lamented.

"I'm sorry Gatomon." Veemon said.

"I'm still sold on someone wanting us to learn about each other anyway." Davis interjected "Maybe we should try again after that."

It was, of course, his attempt to get Kari to try the rings again after the time limit.

"I can't say I have a better plan." She said for the second time. "I still want us to at least investigate the mall tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good time to try the rings again to me." The former goggle head thought. "Being a guy again tomorrow will be nice."

"Okay." He replied, the sound of the warning bell sounding behind him.

"Um, does this mean I have to get back in the bag?" Veemon aksed.

"Normally I just wonder around when Kari is at school." Gatomon said.

"Really?" Veemon exclaimed "but what if someone sees you?"

"Just meow at them and they think you're a cat." Gatomon replied.

"Really?" The former dragon asked again.

"Yes," the former cat replied. "I did it all the time when I worked for… Myotismon.."

Davis noticed a bit of anxiety as Gatomon said that name. Veemon, however, seemed none the wiser.

"That's awesome!" He said.

* * *

Veemon:

Veemon always enjoyed listening to Davis's teachers in school, but somehow being able to see them and their classes made it better. Granted, he couldn't get the best view from the outside windowsill but it was still an improvement over the hole in Davis's bookbag. A girl in the classroom seemed to notice him and made glances up at the window. Before long several of the other students were doing the same. Liking the attention, he waved to the crowd. The crowd gasped. The teacher noticed this and Veemon found himself shooed away. He landed gracefully on the ground and ran a couple of classes down.

"Cats don't wave, got it." The cat in training thought.

He leaped up to the windowsill of another class and listened to the lecture. This time no one seemed to notice him. Shortly thereafter a bell rang and the students in the class left. When new students came the teacher began another lecture, though toward the end he began to repeat what the former dragon had heard before the bell. After another bell, the teacher began repeating the same lecture yet again. Veemon quickly got bored hearing it a second time and decided to seek out another class. He jumped from the windowsill he was on and landed on another flawlessly. This impressed him.

"I definitely could not do that as DemiVeemon. He thought "Would I have been able to make that jump as Veemon?"

In his mind's eye he saw his old body attempting to make the jump. "Vee headbutt!" He yelled in his imagination and leapt toward the windowsill. Instead of landing on it however, he flew past it and crashed headfirst into a tree. He winced internally.

"Gatomon's body sure is nimble." It's current owner thought.

He began listening to the lecture inside. Quickly another student noticed him, and as before others began to follow suit. This time he ignored them. However, he eventually heard the teacher say "What's going on back there?" and in a few seconds he was shooed again.

"What did I do wrong that time?"

When Veemon couldn't figure it out he decided to occupy his time by exploring the campus. It was a surreal experience. Walking around the perimeter of the building he recognized several of the class rooms Davis went to, even catching Kari in one of them. He thought he had a good idea of where the classrooms were before all the switches happened, but after he had seen it through his partner's eyes that second day, he realized now it was limited to "First Davis goes down the hall a bit to this room, then down the other way to another room, then up somehow to another…" Somehow actually seeing, literally seeing, where they were had felt like the day Davis promised him the human world was round. Now he was taking that a step further. He was seeing that path from the outside, and where all those places he had gone were in relation to each-other, and to places he had never seen at all. The details he's seen as Davis, amazing as they were to him, seemed almost inconsequential compared to this.

He tried to create a map of the school in his mind, but he couldn't. Try was he might though he couldn't find all the rooms his partner went to in the day, nor could he find Davis himself. It quickly dawned on him he wasn't seeing were his partner went up and down. The former dragon looked up and saw another row of windowsills above the one he'd been using. Quickly Veemon realized he had to see that upper layer of classes like he had this one. He leapt up toward one of the upper windows but found even Gatomon's body couldn't make that high a jump. He did however land gracefully on his feet unlike the crashing Veemon of his imagination.

"I guess that's one plus" He thought. "There has to be a way up there!"

Looking down at his graceful new feet an idea came to him. The new cat walked up to the building and dug his long front claws into the wall and began climbing up. Before long he had reached an upper windowsill.

"Veemon definitely couldn't have done that."

Leaping from sill to sill the former dragon soon had encircled the upper layer of the school like he had the lower. Once again, he tried to map out the school in his mind. In was fuzzy, but he felt he could almost see the path his partner took through the building in his mind's eye. It blew his mind. His thoughts quickly went to the various other classroom he had seen that Davis never went to. Curious he listened to them for the rest of the day leaping between windowsills and listening to classes as he did earlier. He didn't think he'd ever been more interested in the lectures before. He even found Davis in one of these classes as Kari. That one, he thought, was his favorite.

Eventually what Veemon recognized as the last bell rang. He went ahead over to the window of the computer lab. Yolie was the first of the digidestined to arrive. She let Poromon out of her bag then saw Veemon.

"Hey Gatomon" She said, opening the window for him.

"Hey Yolie" he replied.

Shortly thereafter the white cat saw a certain yellow digimon fly through the window, carrying a lunch box.

"Great, it's Patamon" he thought.

"Hey Gatomon" He said. "How come you didn't stop by the tree today?"

Tree?

"I um, was busy exploring the campus today." Veemon said truthfully.

"Huh, you haven't done that in a while." Patamon replied. "It's okay, just please do visit me again sometime. I can get kinda lonely up there by myself."

"Fat chance of that." The former dragon thought.

"You know Gatomon, sometimes I kind of envy you."

"You… envy me?"

Veemon had envied his rival's flight for as long as he knew him. To hear the flyer envy him, even if it wasn't exactly him he was envying, this was not something the earthbound digimon was prepared for.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that." Patamon continued.

"It's okay, really" Veemon replied. "Why do you say that."

"I feel like you have more freedom of movement than I do." He said. "I know I can fly and all, but if anyone who doesn't know about digimon saw me they'd freak out. That's why TK makes me hide in the tree. You get to wander around."

"I... I don't know how to respond to that." The former dragon replied truthfully.

"Never mind, I probably shouldn't have said it."

"No, I'm kind of glad you did." Veemon again said. "Maybe I will see the poor runt tomorrow afterall" he thought.

"I saved you your lunch." Patamon said. "Did you find something else to eat while you were exploring."

It was then that Veemon realized he hadn't eaten all day. All at once he seemed to feel starving. It seemed he had been so enraptured by his mapping of the school that he didn't notice his own hunger until now.

"Oh, I forgot about that" He said "I can still have that right?"

"Of course" his rival said opening the box.

The rest of the kids had arrived by the time he finished eating.

"You ready partner?" Davis then said.

Filled up the digimon replied "Ready to go!"

"Digiport Open!"

Generally, when Veemon entered the digital world he felt his body rearranged by digivolution. He relished going from the legless fingerless imp he was as DemiVeemon to his stronger rookie form. Today, however, that experience was lost as he simply passed through the portal unchanged. For the first time since the night he gained his new body, the former dragon felt disappointed.

He had little time to dwell on it however, as the immense heat of the lava filled area they arrived in over took him. From the reactions of the others, they too were overwhelmed, not that any of them had time to dwell on this either as before they knew it the emperor's minions were upon them.

"Merumon." TK said identifying them. T

he large troop emerged from the lava with dark rings visible.

"You ready Gatomon!?" Davis roared.

"More than ready."

"Digi-Armor energize!"

When Veemon became Flamedramon he felt his body become fire. This time he felt his body become light. The light grew as he did and sprouted from his body to form wings.

"Gatomon, armor digivolve to… Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"

The wings were barely solid before Veemon took to them. He didn't have time to take in the scenery as he dodged flame attacks from the Merumon, but he still relished it. The former dragon did not think he'd felt this free since the day Davis released him from the digi-egg.

"Rosetta Stone!"

Immediately he was on the offensive. The slaves could not hit him, but he could hit them, and with one attack they began to fall back.

"Digi-armor energize!"

The other kids took initiative from him and armor digivolved their digimon. Pegususmon, Digmon, Halsemon and the reembodied Flamdramon quickly took the field.

"Cat's eye beam!"

With that hit, he broke a dark ring. As he could now see most of the battlefield. His enemies looked small for the first time, as did his old body.

"Fire Rocket!"

He could see his old body struggling to damage the fiery Merumon, it's attacks only making their flames burn brighter. One of them landed an attack of its own on Gatomon.

"You'd think my old body would at least be stronger for how much more mobile this one is."

The sphinx thought It was then he realized how sad he would be when he went returned to his old life.

His train of thought was interrupted as he saw a large group of Airdramon fly across the horizon. On top of the lead's head was the Digimon Emperor, and suspended below him a Greymon. As they came closer Veemon's catlike ears could barely hear the emperor's command.

"Greymon! dark digivolve and be my slave!"

"Greymon dark digivole to, SkullGreymon!"

The Greymon quickly transformed into a monstrous skeleton. Let out a horrific roar as it pulled down most of the Airdramon that supported it. Despite feeling more powerful than ever, Veemon did not think he ever feared one of the emperor's slaves quite like this one. He knew his instincts were different as Flamedramon than as Veemon. Were they different again as Nefertimon? His fears were soon confirmed as the creature effortlessly swatted away Digimon, Halsemon, and his old body.

"Yeah, defiantly better keep my distance here…." He thought.

He flew back to the others at the same time as Pegasusmon. Apparently, the winged horse had the same idea.

"We need to get out of here." Veemon wasn't sure which one of them said it.

* * *

Davis:

The walk back to the digital gate was gloomy and depressing. It was the first time the new digidestined had been defeated in battle, and on top of that Agumon was lost. All the way back Davis could only think of Tai and how he would react. Somehow he couldn't imagine the heroic leader crying… He wondered if he would himself if it had been Veemon that was captured… He didn't know what he would do then, and he hadn't known his partner nearly as long as Tai had known his.

When they returned to the real world Kari pulled him aside as the others left.

"Listen to me" Kari said. "With what happened to his partner, Tai needs support, and I think you will have to be the one to give it."

"Me?" Davis asked.

Kari hesitated. "As far as he knows, you're his sister. You live in his house right now. I can try to get a sleep over tonight, but I doubt your parents will allow it, and even if they do, I can't keep doing it if we can't rescue Agumon tomorrow." She sighed. "Even if I could, I don't think it will really carry the same weight as if 'I,' did it... and that's you now..."

Davis was spellbound. "I... what should I do?"

"I don't know." Kari said. "I would promise him that things will be all right, that we can save Agumon."

"I... I'll try that." The former google-head stuttered.

They walked toward Tai's house. Veemon followed behind them pretending as at school to be a cat, while Gatomon remained in the bookbag as DemiVeemon. Unlike the footsteps or meows he heard from the other, no sound came from the bag then. Davis assumed the former cat had fallen asleep. He didn't think it would be easy for him to sleep that night, but he knew it was easy for Veemon's in-training body at any time, and with the beating SkullGreymon had given, it seemed like sleep would be easier than ever. It was the only time in his life Davis envied the tiny form. He had felt that emotion for Flamedramon before, but never DemiVeemon, and never, he thought, quite like this…

When they arrived at the doorstep, Davis paused, waiting for Kari to open the door as she or Tai had done every other time Davis had visited the house. He was a bit surprised to see the new google-head motion to him to open the door.

"Oh, I have the key in this body now, don't I?" He thought.

Davis could now add "embarrassed" to the long list of his emotions.

The new Kamiya searched through his... through Kari's bag until he found her key. He then used it to unlock the door. Tai's practice had not let out yet, so the older leader was not home. His dad was also at work, but his mom was there to greet them.

"Hey sweetie!" She said looking at her daughter's body.

She then turned and glanced at Kar.

"Hello there too Davis. You here to see Tai?"

"Yes" Kari said after a pause.

"You okay Davis?" Mrs. Kamiya asked, seeming to catch the sorrow in her voice.

"I..." Kari hesitated again "could I stay over tonight?"

"Of course." Mrs. Kamiya said. "You did tell your parents, right?"

"Umm... yes?"

Even Davis could tell his new mother was not convinced by this.

"Tai isn't here yet." She said eventually. "Make yourself at home until he gets back."

"Thank you." Kari responded.

Mrs. Kamiya left the room. Davis turned to his old body.

"Why didn't you tell her about Agumon?" He asked.

"Tai should hear first." she explained. "He deserves that much."

Davis had to agree. They didn't speak much again before Tai returned. When he did come home he seemed to be fairly happy.

"Hey sis." he said. "Hey Davis! Didn't expect to see you here. What's up?"

"Tai," Kari began "I… I really wish I didn't have to tell you this, but Agumon's been captured."

"What?"

"He… he's been captured." She continued "We encountered him in the digital world with a dark ring on his arm. The Digimon Emperor dark digivolved him into…" Kari stopped herself before saying SkullGreymon's name, "ultimate form, then he sent him to attack us. We couldn't defeat him, and the emperor took him away when he couldn't control him."

"It… can't be" Tai said stuttering. "Are you positive it was our Agumon?"

"I…" Kari began "Erm, Kari said she recognized him."

Tai looked to Davis and asked "Is that true?"

"Yes," Davis said. "It's true."

"We have to save him!" Tai yelled. "We need to go to the digital world now!"

"I'm sorry Tai." The new google-head said. "Our digimon are tired and injured and with school closed we can't get to the portal anyway. I really am sorry, but we have to wait until tomorrow."

"How can I wait until tomorrow when my partner is enslaved!?" The older leader screamed.

"I promise you Tai, we will save him then!" Kari said, keeping to her earlier idea.

Tai was unaffected by his sister's words. "Then why didn't you save him today?" He said, almost scornfully. "I didn't make you leader to allow Agumon to be captured!"

Davis did not think he'd ever seen look as ashamed as what he saw form on Kari's face, neither her real face or his own.

"You're right." She said "I don't deserve to be leader, do I?"

Then the look on Tai's face suddenly included shame as well. "Davis… I…" He stuttered once again. He continued quietly, almost whispering "I'm sorry."

Several moments passed before any of them spoke again. The one who broke the silence was Davis.

"Come with us." He said.

"What?"

"Tomorrow, when we go to the digital world come with us." He said. "If anyone knows how to save your partner it's you."

"I… Kari…" Tai stuttered for the last time. "Thank you."

Once again there was silence. This time none of the digidestined broke it; instead it was a ring of the doorbell. Tai's mother came in and opened the door with a greeting, then Davis saw his own mother come in.

"Daisuke! How did I know you'd be here!?" She yelled. "I told you we're going to see the doctor after school, and now we're running late. You come with me, right now!"

"I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Motomiya," Mrs. Kamiya said "Dav, erm Daisuke told me had already talked to you about coming here."

"Next time call me about it" the other mom replied. "Of course, who knows when I'll let him come here again after that!"

"But mom…" Kari began.

Her new mother cut her off "No buts! I should have taken you last night, but I was lenient and now look where you are!"

She stepped toward her new son and grabbed her by the arm.

"We're going!"

Kari looked over at her former brother.

"It's okay" he mouthed. "Go."

Davis wasn't sure if his mother noticed or not, but before he could say anything, they were out the door. Tai's mother left the room shortly after that. Tai collapsed onto the coach. Davis could see tears forming in his idol's eyes.

"Tai… are you okay?" his current sister asked. He didn't know what else to say.

"I'm not." He said, but then he sat up. "But I think I am better for what you said. I will go with you tomorrow to rescue Agumon. I will have to be there when the time comes. I can't imagine myself doing nothing." He sighed "I'll have a hard time waiting even until then."

Davie bent his knees. Like this he was eye to eye with his new brother. He grasped his hand and said "I'll be here for you until then."

"Thank you," Tai answered, not allowing himself to cry. "I think I need something to take my mind off of it…"

Davis looked over and saw the Game Cube again.

"Could it really be that simple?" he thought.

"You wanna play Smash again?" the new Kamiya asked.

"You know, maybe that will work."

They played. Davis wasn't sure how well it was working, but he never saw his idol cry. He never saw him hold back any more tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you how had read the fanfiction.net version may recall that Veemon never mentioned his day in Davis's body there. I have come to regard my neglecting to mention it as sort of a plot hole, given how relevant it would be. Hopefully pointing it out doesn't take away from the emotions in the scene. I am considering retooling the fanfiction.net chapters to match the ones here, so I would appreciate commentary on the matter from someone who has seen both versions.
> 
> Despite what Veemon observes in that scene, I would say Flamedramon is physically stronger or at least more offensively potent than Nefertimon. Digimon of the same level out to generally be balanced (MagnaAngemon is special), and Nefertimon has obvious advantages in mobility. This particular match-up against Meramon, however, doesn't reflect that. Cursed fire monsters always having fire resistance! For what its worth Flamedramon could probably tank a lot more damage from Meramon for that same reason, but with Veemon dodging everything they threw at him as Nefertimon, that wasn't really apparent either.
> 
> Davis and Kari's differing ideas about how to comfort Tai both stem from their idea on how they would want to be comforted in a similar scenario. Davis's wants turn out to be much more in-line with Tai's.
> 
> The chapter title is a line from an old Yu-Gi-Oh commercial, therein referencing the ancient Egyptian monster of its game. Here it's a bit more indirect. Most directly it references SkullGreymon, but also Veemon's past itself. You may have already gathered from last chapter that what I'm going with probably the least pleasant interpretation you could have of his cannon backstory.


	5. The Ultimate Nightmare

TK:

And so it came to pass that the Archangel Michael would drive Man from the garden at behest of the Lord. He would guard the gates of Eden from then on, flaming sword in hand, so that Man would never return.

One day Man came to him at the gates of paradise. "Holiest angel." He spoke unto him. "I beg you allow me to return to paradise, for I cannot bare the cruel Earth."

"You deserve only the cruel Earth." The angel said. "You have chosen the fruit of woman over the love of God and given the serpent unto her. There is no place for you in the garden of the Lord."

"I confess my sin to you as I have to the Lord." Replied Man. "Please have mercy."

"I cannot forsake my God as you have," and with the reply Man wept at the feat of the angel. The angel pitied him, but he could not lower his sword, for although the angel loved man greater was his love for God.

A howl came from within the garden at the sound of the wails of Man. "Is that Man I hear?" It said. "Wait, and I shall comfort you."

The angel turned around and saw the wolf within the garden. "Is that you, Dog?" Man said.

"Yes my friend." The wolf replied, and began to walk toward the gate.

"Why do you answer to that name Wolf?" Spoke the angel. "The Lord would call you Wolf, not Dog. Speak not in the tongues of Man."

"My name is Dog. It is the name I was first given." the wolf unto the angel as he reached the gate. "Step aside that I might comfort Man when our cruel God will not."

With that angel stood aside, for the wolf, unlike Man, remained pure and could come and go as he pleased.

The wolf walked up to Man who took him in his arms. "Thank you oh Dog." He said. "Come with me beyond the garden and comfort me in my exile, and the cruel Earth may yet be bearable in your company."

"Don't listen to him!" The angel yelled "You still are not impure and may know paradise with the Lord!"

"My paradise is with Man, not with your God." The wolf replied.

"Then I shall go with you." The angel said.

The wolf laughed. "You are not fit for the cruel Earth." He said. "Stay here. You know it is what you want."

And with that the Wolf was Dog, and Dog wandered off with Man beyond the garden never to return, and the angel stayed as the wolf had said. He knew he was right, that he could not side with Man over God.

And yet, for the first since Man had been driven out, the angel sat and wept.

…

TK woke up shortly after that. The weekend had been gloomy for everyone with Agumon's capture, particularly since they found they could not access the computer lab on Saturdays. With the crest of hope within him, TK had been confident today would be the day to set things right. Starting the day off with such a grim reminder was not a good omen, even for him…

"I miss you, Matt." He said.

* * *

Kari:

It had been the worst weekend Kari could remember. Knowing what Tai and Agumon were going through would have been enough. Being dragged around to three or four different doctors, all of whom found nothing wrong, would have been enough too. Doing all of the above in a male body was more than enough. Kari tried to focus on Tai and Agumon, as she felt she should. Focusing on her own problem when Tai was in such pain felt selfish to her. It also helped that it took her mind a bit off of the switch with Davis. Less time spent thinking out that was better to Kari was better no matter what way she looked at it.

Never the less, she could not escape her own reality. Every day she woke up in a strange house, in a body she couldn't feel comfortable in. She had to change her clothes as him; she had to use the bathroom as him… By now at least she'd at least figured out how to do those things without looking… If only her new parents hadn't made her bathe! She felt ashamed for herself every time that happened. Then she would remember Agumon's enslavement and be glad she wasn't in his place instead. Then she would feel ashamed again for taking comfort in his suffering.

"It will all be okay." She would tell herself. "Everything will be okay on Monday when you rescue Agumon."

She had wanted to lead the digidestined for a long time, and now was her chance. She couldn't stop her friend from being captured in the first place, but she could save him now. That was the one good thing about this body.

For that reason, a part of her was sad when they found Agumon had escaped on his own. It was a very small part of her. Like everyone else she was reveling in the dinosaur's freedom. Yet in the back of mind she was kind of disappointed she wasn't the one who had freed him. This added another emotion to compete with her revelry: shame, yet more shame. That she would be disappointed that her friend was not a slave… it disgusted her. Kari did not think she ever had a thought like that before.

Despite all of it though, it was easy at this point to keep those negative emotions in the back of her mind. Tai was ecstatic. The smile on his face stayed ear to ear as they marched down the railway back toward the portal.

"And we'll have cookies and ice cream!" He said to his partner. "I'll have mine with chocolate sprinkles." Came the reply.

Tai was happy. Agumon was safe. That was all that mattered. Finally, she could be happy again…

"How endearing!" Came a voice from behind them.

The digidestined looked turned around, and on top of the arch they had passed through a familiar figure was standing.

"It's him!" Kari said. "It's the Digimon Emperor!"

"So you're the one who enslaved Agumon!" Tai yelled at him.

"I am. I take it you are the 'Tai' I've heard so much about." The slaver said. "You're quite the celebrity in this world, you know. I've heard about your adventures, how you overthrew the 'Dark Masters' that ruled this world before I came. The digimon can only sing your praises, even before I take away their free will."

Davis scowled at him.

"I must admit," he continued "I am more than a bit impressed. If couldn't suppress digivolution the way I do you might almost have a chance against me! When I hear about the monsters that pet of yours has slain, I can't help but be a bit... envious. Such a power should only belong to someone as perfect as me."

"Agumon is not my pet, he's my partner." Tai interrupted. "He's my friend."

The emperor laughed. "Friend? How quant. He is not your friend; he is a digimon. He is not even your partner any longer, he is mine."

The emperor cracked his whip and a wing of Airdramon ascended from behind the arch. Two herds of Dark Tyranamon also emerged from the hills on either side. "I suggest you return him."

"Fat chance of that!" Davis cried. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"

The others quickly followed suite.

"…Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!" "…Digmon, the Drill of Power!" "Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"

The emperor leapt from the arch unto the back of Airdramon. It was not long however before Pegususmon shot the slave down and the master fell toward the ground. Agumon, seeing his captor fall, leapt from Tai's arms and dashed toward him yelling "Attack! Attack!".

The emperor landed gracefully in the sand. "So you've come back to me Agumon." He said. "I've got a new friendship bracelet for you." The slaver pulled a strange new device from his cloak. It reminded Kari of a dark ring, but that obviously wasn't what it was. It was more of a dark... spiral? Whatever it was it was thrown at orange dinosaur and hastened itself around his arm. "What is this?" he yelled, and he fell to the ground.

"Agumon!" Tai cried out, running toward his partner. Before he could reach him however the digimon stood up eyes glowing red. "Now you are mine again." The emperor gleamed, and a pepper breath flew toward the older leader.

"Look out" Davis yelled, knocking his idol out of the way.

"No, I can't let this happen again!" Kari though, but before she could react a new decree came from the emperor. "Now Agumon, dark digivolve!"

"Agumon dark digivolve to, Metal Greymon!"

The Metal Greymon that appeared was almost like the one Tai had produced before, but it wasn't. It's eyes continued to glow red, and its scales were grey instead of orange. When it let out its hideous roar it frightened Kari like nothing the emperor had ever fielded before.

"Calm down," Kari told herself. "It's just like with Andromon. A digimon of that level can't be controlled. Just talk to him and he'll be back to himself in no time."

Her brother seemed to have the same idea. Stepping toward Metal Greymon, he called out to him. "It's me, Tai! I know you remember me buddy?"

The Digimon Emperor had other words for him. "Metal Greymon attack!" They were the words to get through to him, and the slave struck at Tai with his claw.

"Look out!" Davis yelled a second time. He rushed at Tai in her body and grappled him, not allowing him to walk into his partner's attack.

"We have to restrain him!" Pegusmon said. "Nefertimon, you know what to do."

Insinct seemed to take over as Veemon replied "Golden Noose!" and Metal Greymon was quickly bound by the golden thread emitting from the flyers' feet. Unlike the usual attack however, the noose did not detach from their feet, leaving them tethered to Metal Greymon as much he was restrained himself.

Pegasusmon was startled "Nefertimon, what are you doing? Release the noose!" Kari did not hear Veemon's response, her attention was instantly drawn toward Tai and her body.

"Let me go Kari," her brother exclaimed. "I need to get to Agumon!"

"I'm sorry Tai, but if I do that he's likely to kill you." Davis replied

Unfortunately Kari's body did not seem strong enough to hold Tai's back very long, and before he could reply the first leader was dragging the second with him toward his enslaved partner.

"I need to help him." Kari herself thought. "Surely I could do it in this body."

But yet, she couldn't. Even more than her brother was by Davis, she was restrained by fear.

"I… I can't move!"

Like his former partner, Metal Greymon could not be held indefinitely. He quickly snapped the golden noose. Veemon and Pegususmon were pulled down with it crashed into the dirt next to Gatomon and Digmon.

"Agumon, stop!" Tai yelled still dragging Davis toward the dinosaur as he inched toward him. Perhaps fortunately, the dinosaur was too focused on the digimon that had bound him rather than his weaker partner.

"Giga Blaster!" he screamed, and missiles flew forth from his chest. They impacted the armor digimon and regressed them back to rookie.

The emperor laughed manically. "With the dark spirals and Metal Greymon I will control the entire digital world!" With the aid of an Airdramon, he mounted the head of his new slave.

Tai continued to inch toward them. The emperor did not care. With the armor digimon defeated he had already won.

"Good bye insects!" He declared. "Your pet Agumon is mine forever!" and then the emperor and his slaves flew away.

"This can't have just happened!" Kari yelled in her mind. "We had Agumon; we literally had him with us and now…"

She felt tears rolling down her eyes.

"I'm sorry Agumon… I'm sorry, brother."

She couldn't bare to look at him. She had had the chance to be the leader she had wanted to be and she couldn't handle it. She couldn't even move! And now Agumon was paying for her mistakes...

No one said anything after that, nothing Kari could hear anyway. She was too focused on her own failing to notice any whispers around her. She did, however, after an amount of time she couldn't begin to guess, hear a loud "HEY!" coming from down the train tracks.

"It's Yolie! And she brought Matt with her!"

Finally looking up the failed gogglehead could see that was true. A cart soon stopped in front of them with Matt, Yolie, and Hawkmon.

"Hey guys" the older digidestined said to the group. "Mind filling me in on what happened while I was away?"

The group proceeded to do that. Kari did not contribute. She could not even bare to listen, but her attention was eventually drawn back to the conversation by the sound of a loud "whack."

Her brother was on the ground with a red spot on his face. Matt was above him recoiling his fist.

"What are you doing!?" Davis yelled before she could. "You guys are friends. Friends don't fight!"

To both of their surprise, Tai thanked his rival as he got up.

"I needed that, thank you."

"You're welcome Tai. I'd do it again." Matt replied.

"I was blaming myself for something totally out of my control. That isn't helpful. We need to stay focused on getting Agumon back, not that we lost him." The older leader said.

"That's true, even if it means we have to fight him." His rival replied. "I'm sure Agumon would rather be beaten by us than remain a slave."

"Agreed, we have to be ready to do what it takes to save him." Tai continued. He turned to the group. "Guys, I don't really know how to say this, but…"

"Allow me to explain, if you don't mind." Gatomon interjected. Tai nodded and the digimon turned to address the group as well.

"When you see Agumon, you better be ready to knock him as hard as you can, you hear!"

The other digimon yelped in agreement. Matt and Tai even applauded her. Kari still did not understand, but she found her own partner's agreement hard to argue with. Before long the group had mounted the mine cart Yolie had come in on, and were racing down the tracks in search of the captive digimon.

There was limited conversation as they traveled. Perhaps the others were thinking about this confusing situation they were in as well. It was definitely what Kari was thinking about.

Eventually the current gogglehead notices a faint buzzing sound in the distance, she turned toward it and noticed a familiar digimon flying toward them.

"Hey look!" She decreed to everyone. "Tentomon is coming!"

The others turned and greeted the incoming insect as well. After returning the favor, he turned to Cody and said "You might wanna check your e-mail. Izzy says he found something."

The youngest one did so. Looking back up to the group he said, "Looks like Metal Greymon has been spotted down the tracks."

"That's good to hear." Tai said. "Before long now we'll have to catch up with him."

Addressing the whole group again he continued, "Remember, we have to be willing to fight Metal Greymon, even if it means he might get hurt. With all of us together I now we can take him on."

"Agreed," Matt repeated. "but, just in case, Tentomon, I need you to track down Garurumon and bring him to us. Got it?"

"Okay." The digimon responded, flying off to get him.

Kari realized this would be another chance for her to atone for her past failures. She also realized she needed to understand her brother's advice to do it.

"I still don't get that." She said, making herself take initiative. "Are we really willing to hurt Agumon?"

"We have to be." The Chrisitan interjected. "That's the only way we can save him."

"No offense TB, but I was asking Tai." Kari responded. As much as she liked him she valued Tai's opinion more in digidestined matters.

"Wait a minute… what did I just call him?" She thought quickly.

The thought was not quick enough to act upon before "TB" responded. Raising his voice he said "Full offense, I'm actually trying to save Agumon! What's your plan?"

Kari did not know how to answer that. She had never heard her friend address her like that. Before she could find her words and another loud "whack" filled the air.

It was not Tai and Matt rough housing again. That would have been expected at this point. Davis and his rival fighting would have been the next logical step; seeing it happen shouldn't have been a surprise. From the perspective of most of the people in the carts however, it was not Davis and "TB" that were fighting... Apparently taking the full offense the blond had directed at his form, Davis had punched him in the face, with Kari's fist.

"Shut up TK." He said. "That conversation was between leaders, not them and you."

There was silence for several seconds after that. No one it seems knew how to respond that. The punched one especially seemed stunned. Kari had never seen a look like that on his face before. "Shocked" would be the first world Kari would pick to describe it, but that she didn't think that really did it justice. It almost looked "disturbed" or even "betrayed."

The current gogglehead now had a chance she had not anticipated. Fighting Agumon to free him was one thing, but this fighting Davis and  ~~TI~~  TK had been doing was something else entirely. Finally, she had her chance to stop it. Now that she was leader she could not allow it to continue, to escalate like this. She had to take initiative like she failed to do against Metal Greymon.

"Kari, why did you do that?" She said intervening.

Her body replied "TK had it coming. I'm tired of him undermining my, erm, excuse me, your leadership like he has all this time."

"That's no reason to make it physical!" the real Kari continued. "Say you're sorry! You could have hurt TJ… I mean TK."

"But I'm not sorry."

"Now  _you're_  undermining my leadership!" That was how Kari would have responded, however before she could a laugh rang out. Everyone turned to see Matt and Tai laughing hysterically, losing their posture almost to the point of falling over.

"Wow, you guys really are our siblings aren't you?" Matt managed to get out as he regained his composure.

"I know right! That was something I'd expect from Davis!" Tai added.

"Why are you laughing?" His true sibling responded. "I'm trying to defuse the situation."

"Don't." The older leader replied. "Like Matt said, they are our siblings. If we can make friends by fighting why can't they?"

"But you didn't make friends that way, did you?" Kari meekly replied.

"We did, actually. You weren't there in our last adventure, but before I was officially leader, Matt and I had very different ideas about how the group should be run. I don't think we ever would have settled things if I hadn't literally knocked him through the snow." He turned to his rival "No offense, bro."

"None taken." Matt replied

Whatever her brother had just described it must have been before even Kari joined, let alone Davis. It would be as alien to her as it was to him. She knew the stronger digidestined hadn't gotten along, but she had always assumed they resolved it peacefully. They had never fought since Kari joined team, not physically anyway... Had they?

"This is crazy!" Yolie interjected.

"Yeah, I think the best way to make friends is with a nice game of checkers." Cody added.

"I call winner." Matt replied.

"Right now the important thing is catching up to Metal Greymon." Tai said.

No one objected to that. Kari kept thinking back to Tai and Matt's fighting in the past. Despite what they had said, she couldn't remember them going physical like this…

Then she remembered they had done more than that. Tai and Matt had indeed fought since she joined, and in a very big way, during the campaign against Puppetmon. Kari had only vague memories of the event, having spent most of it possessed, but WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon had indeed fought each other when Matt physically revolted against his leader. It had effectively taken an act of divine intervention to stop them.

Was this really like that? Interventions aside, Matt had stopped his attack then when he was convinced the group belonged together. Why couldn't something similar happen with T…K and Davis?

Before she could answer that a new thought came to her mind. "Was that applicable to Metal Greymon now?" Surely it must be. Then again, he is under mind control now. Matt was just... deceived.

"Why did I have to become leader now?" She lamented internally.

* * *

Davis:

Stupid TK!" was all Davis could think for the first few minutes after his fight with him. It didn't take long for his thoughts to come back to the more pressing issue, however.

"Agumon is still captured." He thought "And we're still gonna have to fight him..."

The former google head still did not want to fight his idol's partner, though even he knew it was an awkward thought to have right after punching his own rival.

"That's different." part of him said. "TK had it coming! Agumon is the victim here." Davis didn't quite like it, but he found it hard to think of a counter argument.

While he tried anyway a beep came from his D-Terminal. He looked down at the screen and realized the device looked and sounded now exactly as it did when the previous digieggs had been found.

"Guys," he shouted to his friends "I think we've found a digiegg!"

They quickly began to slow the cart. A large rock into view and as they approached it, they clearly saw the digiegg Davis had detected sticking out of the ground nearby. Managing to stop the cart directly in front of it, they got out and took a closer look.

"It looks like it has the Crest of Friendship on it." TK said. "You think that means it's yours Matt?"

"Maybe?" Matt replied.

"Maybe not too." Tai added. "I couldn't pull the Digiegg of Courage up, and Izzy and Sora couldn't get love or knowledge."

"Kari and I managed to get hope and light." TK countered.

"True," Tai responded. "If nothing else, I say you get the first try Matt."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." his rival replied.

Matt walked up to the egg and attempted to lift it. He failed.

"Welp, I guess it wasn't meant for me after-all." Matt sighed. "Darn."

Tai smirked. "I bet it's mine then!" He rushed over to the egg and tried to lift it as well. He couldn't.

"Dang, I was hoping I'd get to show you up again, Matt. That will have to wait."

The musician rolled his eyes. "Whatever, anyone else wanna try?"

All of the younger digidestined tried, except for Davis. All of them failed: TK, Yolie, Cody, even Kari in his body. After that everyone's eyes turned toward him. "You're up next sis." Tai said.

"I..." Davis began "I don't think I can do it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't think I understand friendship." the former google head replied. "I still don't understand what you were saying about Agumon..."

"Come on Kari," Tai said. "you know you're better than that. You have a lot of great friendships. We all do. Try to lift the egg. What's it gonna hurt?"

Unable to argue, the former gogglehead stepped down to the egg and attempted to lift it. Like everyone else, he failed.

"I knew I couldn't do it..." he sighed.

"It's okay, none of us could." His new brother replied.

Their conversation was cut short however by the sound of a loud buzzing heading toward them. The digidestined looked toward it, and saw a bee like digimon flying toward them, its dark ring clearly visible.

"Flymon!" Tai said. "You guys need to take it down."

Davis did not need to be told twice. "Digi Armor Energize!"

"Gatomon Armor Digivolve to Nefertimon, the Angel of Light."

Yolie quickly followed his lead.

"Hawkmon Armor Digivolve to Halsemon, the Wings of Love."

Their armor digimon took the air and engaged the slave, but before they could land a blow the Flymon let out an attack of its own. The buzzing from before came back, only much, much louder. Davis had never felt a pain to measure up to the earache he felt now. He covered his ear, but still the pain persisted. He fell to his knees, barely able to stand.

Then, the buzzing stopped. Davis looked up at the Flymon, seemingly at the same time as the others, and they saw it falling back, but in its claws, was Patamon.

"Patamon!" TK cried out. He instantly gave chase to the fleeing digimon.

Davis quickly followed after the blond, and then everyone else followed him.

Before they could catch up with the slave however, a larger more monstrous form came over the horizon, the corrupted Metal Greymon with the Digimon Emperor riding on its head.

"Where do you think you're going?" They tyrant cackled.

"Not you again!" Kari whined.

Flymon flew up to its master and presented the captive Patamon.

"You let him go right now!" TK yelled.

"I don't think I will." The emperor replied. He pulled out a dark spiral. "From what I hear about 'Peidmon,' the creature that beat him makes the perfect next addition to my collection."

Veemon flew toward them, seemingly about to attack. "Rosseta…"

His partner cut him off. "Stop Nefertimon! You might miss and hit Patamon."

The sphinx landed beside him. "True..."

"We have to separate Patamon from the emperor." Halsemon said.

"I don't see how we can." Davis replied.

The former gogglehead noticed TK looking at him. Davis could not make sense of the expression on his rival's face. He did not think TK understood what to make of him at all. He turned to Kari, the expression on his face still mysterious.

"We need to attack." He said sternly to her. "You're the leader, order it!"

"I..." Kari stuttered "What about Agumon? What about Patamon? We can't risk hurting our friends, can we?"

It was the same fear he had. The same fear he did not know what to do with. Davis had not had much time to miss his leadership position since he received his new body, but now he was relieved not to have it, not to have to make a decision like that.

The emperor laughed manically. "Aw, the magic of friendship!" He said. "Don't worry Patamon, you won't have to remember you useless friends much longer." He moved the dark spiral toward his captive. "In a few seconds all you will remember is what it's like to be my slave!"

TK charged toward his partner, yelling out his name. Metal Greymon responded by shooting out his claw.

"Get down!" Tai responded, jumping on his rival's brother pushing him out the way of his partner's attack.

"You could have died!" Tai said, apparently learning from his earlier mistakes.

The emperor conintued moving the dark spiral toward Patamon, before he made contact however, a loud howl filled their ears as Garurumon leap from atop the rock and snatched Patamon from the Flymon's claws.

"Exellent timing buddy!" Matt cried out.

The wolf landed and ran back toward the digidestined. He released Patamon at the same time Tai released TK. The released partners embraced eachother.

"Tai, TK, Garuruon… they all put themselves in a lot of danger for their friends." Davis said.

It was the second time Davis had seen a digidestiend put themselves in such danger to save their partner. He couldn't help but be impressed by it. Tai impressing him was par for the course, but TK? It was an awkward feeling he couldn't escape.

Veemon seemed impressed by it too.

"If I were the one being captured, would you do that for me?" He asked

"Ma… maybe?" He former leader replied.

"Maybe!" His partner asked harshly. "What about definitely?"

Matt mounted his digimon. "Garurumon and I are going to break the dark spiral." He said.

"What about Agumon?" the wolf replied. "Can we risk hurting him?"

"We have no choice," his partner said. "Isn't that right Tai?"

"Absolutely!" Tai yelled. "Everyone, attack!"

"Digiarmor energize!" Cody responded.

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to Digmon, the Drill of Power!"

Even in her earlier hesitation, Kari bent to her brother's call.

"Veemon armour digivole to Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"

The newly evolved digimon joined Garurumon in an assault on Metal Greymon as did Halsemon. Veemon however, stayed near his partner. Davis knew he could sense his doubt.

"You still don't want me to do this, do you?" He asked.

"I'm sorry, I still don't want to hurt Agumon, he's our freind." The former gogglehead replied.

"Meanwhile all of the emperor's other slaves get attacked and freed." Veemon replied. "What a wonderful way to show your friendship by leaving Agumon in bondage."

Davis had no response to that.

The dinosaur cried out as an attack from Halsemon hit him. Davis had no response for that either.

Tai did, however. When the bird said "I'm sorry Agumon." Tai answered "Don't be, you did what you had to do."

Garurumon gnawed at the dark spiral only to be swatted away.

The older leader turned to Davis. "You need to join in too. We need your help."

"I really don't want to…" he replied.

"I'm afraid sometimes you have too."

"I can't."

"You don't understand friendship at all." Veemon spat. He reverted back from Nefertimon to Gatomon. "But hey, let's have it your way. I'm sure Agumon will appreciate it."

They both had to leap out of the way as Metal Greymon launched his claw.

"And now he's going to hurt me." The new cat lamented.

Patamon leapt from TK's arms and flew toward him.

"Don't worry Gatomon, I'll protect you."

Metal Greymon attacked again, this time aiming for Patamon. Veemon pushed him out of the way.

"I'll protect you too." He said.

Davis was moved by it, and by everything that had happened.

"He's right isn't he?" Davis thought to himself. "You have to be willing to do what it takes to help your friends. Even if that means putting your own life on the line… or even theirs."

Turning his thoughts into words, he said "Veemon I'm sorry!" It was then that his digivice began to glow. The digiegg no one could lift, now glowing with the same blue light, lifted itself off the ground and began to fly toward Davis. Veemon's expression turned into a smile. "I knew you'd come around, partner!"

"No way!" Yolie said. "Does that mean Kari has two digieggs? What does that mean?"

"Maybe it means Gatomon can become twice as powerful? Cody responded

"Looks like the egg is yours afterall, sis!" Tai said. "Why don't you show us what it can do!?"

Davis did not need to be told twice. "Digiarmor energize!"

"Gatomon, armor digivole too, Rabbitmon, the Leap of Freindship!"

The emperor laughed at this new form. "A bunny? Really? What a joke! Do you really think  _that_  can defeat Metal Greymon?"

The pink rabbit Veemon became was less intimidating than Flamedramon or even Nefertimon, but it was a lot bigger, almost the size of Garurumon. Maybe it was just loyalty to his partner, but Davis could not help but believe it stood a better chance.

"I'll show you!" The new rabbit said. He leapt into the air, very high into the air. He landed on Metal Greymon's arm and bit and slashed at the dark spiral… it did no visible damage.

"Ha!" The slaver laughed again. "Fun fact, dinosaurs are stronger than bunnies!" His slave swatted the Rabbitmon away as it had Garurumon.

Veemon landed gracefully near his partner. Matt rode up to them. "We need to attack together." He said. "Come with me."

"Can I do that?" He looked to his new brother.

"Of course you can." Tai said. "I know it."

"Alright!" The former leader said, climbing onto his partner as well. "Let's go!"

Both of the mounted digimon charged the slave.

"Blue Blaster!" Garurumon yelled, shooting his icey breath toward the dark spiral. Metal Greymon dodged the attack.

"Carrot Bomb!" Veemon yelled and shot a giant carrot from his mouth. It hit the dark spiral and exploded. The dinosaur could not dodge both attacks. The dark spiral shattered.

"What!" The emperor yelled.

Metal Greymon quickly regressed back to Agumon. The tyrant on his head fell to the ground saved only by the intervention of an Airdramon slave. It flew away, taking its master with it.

"We did it!" Davis yelled.

Tai embraced Agumon. "I'm so glad to see you safe again. Sorry I if I hurt you."

"I'm sorry if I hurt you too." His partner replied.

Davis rode back up the group and dismounted. Tai went up and hugged him too.

"Thank you so much Kari. You were amazing!"

Davis did not think he had ever had a compliment that sincere.

The trip back to the portal was slow. But it was the most satisfying one he had ever had. All of his gloom melted away.

* * *

Jun:

"Where is it?" June asked herself for the 3rd or 4th time.

Monoe had been teasing her about not having a cell phone ever since she got hers months ago. Now that Jun finally had one, and a much better one from what she could gather, she was ready to rub it her friend's face. Unfortunately for her, one of the first things she did with her new toy was to put it... somewhere she couldn't quite locate.

After searching her room for a second time, the phoneless girl decided on another approach. She went to the landline and called her new number. She could faintly hear it ringing in the distance... definitely not in her room though. Hanging up she walked down the hall in the direction she heard the ringing. At the end of the hall she found the door to her brother's room.

"Figures" She said dryly. "The dumb runt probably stole it."

Davis had been asking their parents for a phone too. Apparently, that Tai boy he idolized had gotten one even early than her friend. They were hesitant to give him one. Cellular phones were still relatively newfangled in 2003. Most adults had one now, but teens and kids? That was a luxury as well as privilege, and one mother and father had really not trusted their son with. When Monoe got her phone and Jun got the desire for hers, it had taken a while to get her parents to trust her with it either, but it had been done. Now, unlike her brother, Jun was now the owner of the latest model, much to the former's chagrin. Jun still remembered her brother's complaints last week. "No fair, Tai's dad got Kari a phone as well as Tai!" Hearing it made her appreciate the gift all the more; being envied was an additional rare privilege for her. She didn't think the brat would go so far as to steal out of envy though.

"The idiot probably just wants to talk to Tai with it." She said with disgust. For all the love Davis had for Tai there was none lost on her end. Envy was an emotion she felt frequently, even if it was rarely direct at her.

Jun walked into her brother's room and began searching it. She didn't find anything on the first go through. "Was the ringing not coming from here?" the still phoneless girl thought. There were other rooms along the way to Davis's. She was about to inspect one of them when she realized her search of this room was a bit hap-hazard. She had checked in the dresser drawers for example, but what about under the dresser, or behind it? "Is Davis smart enough to hide something well?" His sister asked herself. "Eh, I'm here anyway, I might as well look."

She crouched down and looked underneath the dresser. Seeing a small box there she pulled it toward her. Getting up she opened the box and found a folded-up piece of paper within.

"It's not my phone, but the brat is definitely hiding something." Jun thought. Curious she unfolded the paper and began to read it.

"To the worth recipient:

The rings enclosed are my gift to you. Any two people that put the rings on will switch bodies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I use dub wording, but I decided to compromise that a bit here because Davis's original Japanese lines about friendship made a lot more sense in context than the ramblings about equilibrium he made in the dub. The other big compromise in this chapter is the spelling of June's name without an e at the end. It is established in the first chapter that the dub names are nicknames in this fanifc, and well, adding letters rather than subtracting them kind of defeats the point of nicknames, so I ignored it there. It's pronounced the same either way.
> 
> The chapter name is another Yu-Gi-Oh reference, this time to Yubel's final form. Those of you who have seen GX may make of that what you will.


	6. Unsex Me

**Davis:**

"Are you positive you never sold a ring like this?" Kari asked yet again.

"I'm positive." The jeweler said. "I'd remember it if we ever carried a black ring. Good ruby though."

They left the jewelry shop, yet another jewelry shop, with no new leads... not that there would be any new leads of course, but Kari didn't know that. "

Was that the last jeweler here?" Davis asked.

"I think there's one more." She said. "It has to be the place."

The former gogglehead followed the current down the aisles. The trip to the mall had been boring but it was almost over. Davis looked at the ring. By now the ruby was back into the same position it had came here with, the one that didn't switch. The jewelers who examined the ring had turned it multiple times. The first time he was tempted to point out how the ring had turned on its own, but for several reasons he decided not to. Better to wait until there was no one else in earshot to ask questions. Of course, that wasn't the only reason. By the time the left that first jewelry shop the gem was back in the parralel, non-switching position. Davis had decided that we would wait until the gem was back into the switching position to point it out. At this point he didn't dwell on only having one more chance for that.

The clerk at the last jewelry shop also denied selling it. "Whoever did sell it to you ripped you off. That's not even real ruby."

"Really?" Davis asked. "None of the other jewelers said that."

The clerk looked at the ring again. "It is the best fake ruby I've ever seen, by large margins. I don't know how the con made it, but I do think it is a fake. If nothing else it's not pure ruby."

Kari sighed. "Are you positive you didn't sell it to us? You're the last store at this mall and I know we bought it here."

"We do not sell fake jewelry. Nor does anyone else here."

The current gogglehead led them away in defeat. Davis looked at her ring. Once more it was in the locked, non-switching position.

"Darn." he thought to himself. "Looks like I can't switch back today after-all."

"That is BS and you know it." Another part of him objected. He ignored it.

Kari addressed him before he could reply. "Are you positive this was the mall you bought the rings at?"

"This is the only one I ever go to." He replied.

"Then why didn't any of the vendors recognize it?"

"Maybe the store isn't here anymore. Like that magic store in the movies that goes away when the heroes try to track it down."

"This can't be happening!" Kari whined. "This is real life, not some stupid movie!"

"We're already switching bodies, you know." Davis responded. "Why not that too."

The former girl sighed.

"Is this really we're left with? Movie logic? Again?" She lamented.

"We could still try going back through Veemon and Gatomon."

"I'll think about it." Kari said. "In the mean time I guess I really don't have a choice but to find out what I'm apparently supposed to learn about you."

"I'll do that too on my end." Davis replied.

"Thanks." She yielded.

They walked toward the entrance to the mall. When they got there Davis turned to Kari and asked. "Tai wanted me to meet him at a soccer practice before I went home. You wanna come to?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." She replied. "I didn't tell your parents I was coming here... They... decided I was faking being sick and grounded me. If I don't get home before they do I'll be in worse trouble. I don't think they'll be back before practice would be over, but Jun definitely will be. Would she tell on you?"

"Yes, yes she would." Her brother replied.

As many times as she had told on him lately, Davis felt she relished getting him grounded.

"I better get home them." Kari said. "See you at school tomorrow?"

"See you then."

They parted ways after that. As Davis walked toward Tai's high school, he couldn't stop himself from thinking back to the mall.

"You idiot." That same part that insulted him before continued. "You threw out the plan! When are we gonna switch back now!?"

Tomorrow. He decided he would tell Kari he had thought about the jewels overnight after what the jewelers said and would point out the changed positions then. Tomorrow would work well.

When he approached the soccer field he saw Tai's team playing a makeshift game. A stray ball came his way as stepped into the outfield.

"Look out Kari!" Tai yelled.

Davis smiled. He waited until just the right moment and gave the ball a kick, straight toward the goal post; it went in. Tai was speechless. The rest of the team cheered. When the cheer ended, one of the teammates turned to the goalie and laughed.

"Step up your game bro! If Tai's little sister can get the ball past you there's no way the other team can't."

"The ball was out of bonds away. That totally didn't count." The goalie replied

"Is why you didn't block it?"

The goalie stuck to his story. Davis wasn't sure if he believed him or not. The former captain sat down in the bleachers while the older team finished their game. Tai kept glancing at him throughout the match. At first his face was still surprised from his earlier interception, but as practice progressed he looked more and more... happy? That was definitely how he looked. He went out the greet Tai when practice was over. This team cheered again.

"Great job Kari." One member said. "Wanna join our team? I know you play better than Izuma."

"Hey!" another member, apparently Izuma, shouted.

"Come on, you know middle school girls can't join a highschool guys team." Tai said. He turned to Davis. "I am proud of you for that, though I really am. I didn't think you had that in you."

Kari's borrowed cheeks turned red. "Thanks big brother."

As Tai smiled, another of his teammates said "I know there's a girls' team at the middle-school. You should join. You would dominate."

Tai stuttered a bit; he did not seem to like that idea. Davis knew why. The memory of Kari almost dying playing this game would be hard to shake away.

"It's okay Tai, I wouldn't want to join a team anyway." He said. "I just wanted to impress you."

Tai blew a sigh of relief. "You succeeded." he said. "Just please don't do it again."

Davis could tell saying that upset him as well. Davis nodded. They left and started walking home. As they approached, Tai turned to him, apparently changing his mind.

"You know, if you do wanna join the girls team, I won't stop you. I shouldn't try to keep you out for something that happened that long ago, and you're healthy now. If I were the one that happened too, I wouldn't want you keeping me out."

"Really it's fine." the switched one said. Whatever his feelings on the matter Davis knew Kari had no desire to join the team. They were switching back tomorrow anyway, no need to put her through that.

"Do you have to switch back tomorrow?" Some other newer part of him asked.

"Of course I have to!" He looked at Tai again. "I just have to make today count."

When they arrived home, they found an unexpected guest talking to their mother.

"Hey Tai. Hey Kari." Jun said greeting them.

To say Davis was surprised to her there was an understatement. Tai and Jun had met each-other; Tai had been over to his house to many times not to have met her, but mostly she seemed to want to avoid him. Seeking him out, let alone at his own house, was something the former gogglehead would never have expected of her.

"Hey Jun..." Tai said. From the tone of his voice the older leader was as surprised as he was. "

Hello... Tai." his sister replied. From her tone Jun was annoyed rather than surprised.

"There's no way she came to see him." Davis thought. "Why is she here then, for me?"

Did Jun know Kari at all? Kari had visited them with Tai or on her own a few times, so she knew of her, though if she hadn't addressed her body by its name Davis might have guessed she didn't know it. Apparently his sister had heard him say it before...

"Go on, tell them." Mrs. Kamiya said.

Taking the cue, Jun explained "As much as our brothers hang out, I'm thinking we ought to get along well, Kari. We should spend some quality time together."

"Great! More quality time with Jun!" another, much older, part of him whined.

He ignored it easily. It actually was nice to see her again after close to a week of separation.

"She's cutting into your last day as Tai's sibling." Yet another part of him objected. "You can have quality time with her tomorrow."

That was a much better argument. Davis was about to refuse Jun when Tai said. "That actually is a good idea. I need to shower after practice anyway."

"Eh, might as well then." Davis thought.

He sat down on the couch. Turning his thoughts into words he went on "What do you wanna do?"

Jun sat down too as Mrs. Kamiya left the room. "Oh nothing, just talk a bit."

"Sounds as good as anything." Her brother thought. "What do girls talk about anyway when guys aren't around?"

Tai also left as he thought that, heading for the bathroom.

"I guess I'm about to find out..."

"How have you been," She asked "Davis?"

"Fine." He replied… and then realized just what he'd said.

Jun's eyes widened. "No way! You really are Davis!"

"Wha… what are you talking about?" The switched one replied, panic in his voice. "Y… you just asked how I'd been and I said 'fine'."

"Don't play dumb." Jun responded. "You heard exactly what I asked. 'How have you been, DAVIS?'"

"I didn't hear that last part." Davis said. "I'm obviously not Davis; look at me, I'm Kari Kamiya, sister of Tai Kamiya."

"No, you aren't." Jun said; she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it toward her brother. "I know about the rings."

Davis took the paper and read it. It was the note that came with the rings his sister now seemed to know about.

"You… believed this?" He asked.

"I didn't at first," she replied "but with 'Davis' acting so out of character I couldn't help but keep thinking back to it... Then I began to think of just how wonderful it would be if it were true. I had to see if it was, and it looks like it is!"

"Come on Jun," Davis said. "Surely you weren't convinced of something this insane just because of one word."

"Believe me, your panicked tone at the start of this conversation was much better evidence. I know you're a bad actor, Davis, and I knew you would break character if confronted. If 'Kari' had not been so defensive, I would have known she had just misheard me. Combined this with Kari's behavior in your body and I'm positive it's you."

"Well it isn't." Davis yelled, getting up out of his seat."Get out of my house!"

"You don't want me to do that brother." The accuser replied. "Not unless you want 'Davis' to know everything I know when I get home."

Davis sat down. He knew exactly what it would mean if she did that. Kari would know he'd lied to her about where the rings were from and what he knew about them. If he ever wanted to speak to her again, she had to stay in the dark. He couldn't let her go, or else...

"You win." He said. "It's me, Davis."

Jun smiled. In a strange way, it made Davis feel better. He wouldn't admit it, especially not now, but he was starting to miss his sister. Still, being found out bothered him.

"How did you know I'd become Kari?" he asked. "Like, her specifically?"

"Because that's exactly what I'd do if I had gotten the rings." Jun said.

"Switch with Kari?" Davis asked, now more confused.

"With the one I love." She replied.

Davis pondered this briefly. "Are you saying you want to switch with Matt?"

"Of course." She said. "In what way could we possible be more united in body and soul than that? What could possibly be a greater marriage?"

Davis did not know what to say to that…. His sister continued before he could find his response.

"I want a pair of rings like yours. I want to use them with Matt. I also I want your help getting one of them on his finger. You'll help me do that, won't you?"

"I don't think Matt would agree to it." He said finally.

"Of course he would." Jun replied. "We're soul mates."

"I'm positive if I asked him 'Hey, you wanna marry Jun by switching bodies with her?' he'd say 'No.""

He was positive he'd say that a lot less nicely that that, but the digidestined kept his mouth shut about it. "

He'll come around." Jun said that with seemingly as much certainty as if she'd said that two and two made four. "It's just like our first date. He'll be surprised at first, but by the end he'll be loving it as much as I am."

"Besides," she continued "The first thing 'Davis' did out of character was to scream in front of the mirror. Is this really different from what you're doing with Kari?"

"I… didn't try to do this with Kari." her brother replied. "I had planned to swap with TK in the first place... He just gave Kari the ring instead before I could."

"Matt's brother?" Jun chuckled. "He would have been my second choice."

That wasn't the reaction Davis was trying to get... He did not want to refuse his sister, but somehow, he didn't want to help her either. He did not know which made him feel worse… it didn't matter anyway.

"I don't have another pair." He said. "I don't even have the first two rings anymore. Kari has the other one, and I doubt she'll just hand it over to you. I couldn't help you with this even if I wanted to"

"Can't you just call up that guy who sent you the first rings and ask for more?" Jun asked.

"I don't know who sent me the rings. The sender never said who they were, and you're the first person I know who's shown any sign of knowing I'd had them."

"You're telling me someone you don't know randomly mailed you a pair of body swapping rings?"

"Is that any weirder than there being body swapping rings?" Davis countered.

He had her there.

"So you have no way of helping me switch…" Jun whimpered.

"I'm sorry." Davis said. "I don't even know where the rings came from."

"This can't be the end of the road…" Jun whined. "Wait! How do you not know where it was from?" She pulled the package from her purse. "It has a return address."

Davis had not considered this before now. He took the box from her, and read the return address in the top corner.

"Okay… I know where it's from…" He said. "still no idea who it's from. I don't know anyone near Tamachi."

"You're about to!" Jun replied, heading for the door. "We're going there and getting my wedding rings!"

Davis knew he wasn't going to be able to stop her.

"Mom! Dad! I'm going out!"

* * *

**Jun:**

"This is it." Davis said looking at the apartment door.

Jun was already knocking. The man who answered the door greeted them kindly.

"Hello there!" he said. "Do you want to see my son? He's not taking visitors right now."

"Um, maybe." Davis said in response to the question. "Was he the one to send me the rings?"

"Rings?" The man puzzled.

"I got them in a package in the mail." Davis spoke. 'two of them; black with ruby jewels, switch bo.."

Jun cut him off an elbow to the side. If this man didn't know about the switching rings it was probably better he did not find out.

"Ken isn't mailing out rings. I don't know that anyone should be sending rings to girls your age."

Jun heard Davis mutter the word "Ken" under his breath. She spoke normally. "This is the return address on the box."

She showed it to him and he read it.

"I don't know you." The man said unconvinced. "I can't speak for my wife or son but I don't know why they would mail you jeweled rings. It was probably some prank by your schoolmates."

"It's okay father." A voice said from inside the house. "I sent them the rings."

The man turned around. Behind him was a dark haired boy about same age as Kari or Davis. Jun didn't know him, but it felt like she'd seen him somewhere before.

"You sent a girl black rings?" the father asked.

"Trust me it's nothing like _that._ " The son replied. "The rings are a new storage device I was working on. These girls are friends of mine from the computer club I had test them." He turned toward his guests. "Did they work well?"

"Perfectly!" Jun said before her brother could speak. The former boy was already a bad actor, and he seemed surprised by what he was seeing. She couldn't have him mess things up.

"Excellent!" The son replied. "Please come in and discuss the details with me. Father, please leave us. You said you'd give me as much autonomy as you could on my projects."

The man looked suspiciously at his son, then at his guests, and then back at, what had he called him? Ken?

"Alright son, I trust you." He said. "Just don't take them to your room. You're too young to be alone with girls there, let alone send them betrothal tokens."

He stepped aside to let them in.

"Thank you, father." Ken said.

He stepped back toward a hallway and motioned for his guests to follow him. "Come this way."

They did as he said and followed Ken into a living room. Once they'd all entered he peeked his head to look down the hallway, as if checking to make sure his father had not followed them. Seeming satisfied, he turned back into the room.

"So I see you got my gift." He said.

"Ken!" Davis said. "You sent me the rings! I don't believe it!"

"I did." Replied their host. "From the looks of you I'd say you've used them. How do you like them?"

"I can't thank you enough for them." He said.

Jun did not wait for Ken to reply. She said to Davis. "I thought you said you didn't know anyone near Tamachi?"

"I don't" he replied. "I just played soccer with him once."

Now Jun remembered. This was Ken Ichijochi, the prodigy all the tabloids were praising. Her brother had spent days boasting about his match with him, as though it were him leading the last samurai against Meiji's Gatling guns. She hadn't cared much reading about Ken, or hearing about him from Davis. The latter, in fact, kind of annoyed her, but now Jun was thinking back to everything she knew about the young celebrity.

"Did you create the body switching rings?" She asked him.

"Yes." He replied. "Did he tell you about them?"

"No." Jun said. "I figured it out."

The boy laughed. "I have a feeling I'll like you." He said. "Not many people would be willing to believe in body switching even if they could figure out it was a thing. Tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Jun." She said. "I'm Davis's sister… or I guess was now that he's in a new body. She's called Kari by the way… his new body."

"Thank you for that." Ken replied. "What brings you here, Jun? Were you your brother's ride?"

"Well, yes" she said. "But I'm the one who wanted to come. I was hoping you'd have a pair of rings for me."

"I see." He said. "I'm sorry, but my gift was intended for Davis alone."

"It's okay with me." Davis said. "Heck, I'd like to have a familiar face, so to speak, switching around with me."

Ken's smile turned sour, but only just for a moment.

"Only asking for more rings to use with loved ones?" he chuckled "You must be quite content in your new body, very well, I'll give you another pair. Heck, I'll give you as many as you want, but I have a condition."

"What would that be?" Davis asked.

"Intelligence."

A look of befuddlement filled Kari's borrowed face. "What do you mean by that?" It spoke.

"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out by now." Ken said. "Surely you've noticed how similar those black rings look to the _dark_ rings I use."

The look on Kari's face changed from one of confusion to one of horror.

"No!" Davis said. "It can't be!"

"It is." Ken said. "I am the Digimon Emperor."

"What?" Jun thought.

"No!" Davis boomed. "You're not getting jack from me! Come on Jun, we're leaving."

"WHAT!" Jun yelled. "No! If you get to be Kari, I get to be Matt!"

"You don't understand!" Davis cried. "That guys is evil! We can't help him, not for anything!" He was already walking toward the door.

"You come back here right now!" Jun yelled.

"Never!" Davis had his back turned and was already in the hallway.

Jun reached into her purse and mashed the buttons as fast as she could. Familiar voices then rang out: "How have you been, Davis?" "Fine" "No way! You really are Davis!"

The fleeing Davis turned around. He saw the tape recorder in her hands.

"Wha… what are you talking about. Y… you just asked how I'd been and I said 'fine'." "Don't play dumb. You heard exactly what I asked. 'How have you been, DAVIS?'"

"Wha.. You recorded everything?" The now stationary Davis spoke.

"I did," Jun said. "Including your confession. If you don't want EVERYONE to hear it: Kari, TK, your precious Tai, come back here, right now."

"P.. Please don't make me do this." Was all the switched one could say. It looked like he was about to cry.

Jun turned to Ken. "May I have some time alone with my brother?" She asked.

The host paused for a moment. "Alright." He finally said. "I should probably talk to my dad anyway. If he's heard the yelling, he will be worried."

As soon as Ken was out of earshot Jun turned to her brother. "What's the matter with you?" She said. "One minute you can't thank him enough and the next you refuse to help him!? What has he done that is so 'evil'?"

"I… can't say." Davis said.

"You're a hyprocrite." Jun said. "You won't let me have what you have, and you won't even say why."

"Please," Davis said. "I swore to Kari. I swore to Tai."

"I bet you swore to Kari you didn't know about the rings too." She said. "Tell me what the problem is or everyone hears the recording."

Kari's head fell down in the defeat. "Promise you won't tell anyone else." The boy within said.

"If the secret is worth keeping I'll keep it."

That was enough. "Ken is a slave mongering tyrant." Davis said. "He uses rings like these to enslave digimon."

"Digimon?" Jun asked.

"They are creatures that live in computers." Jun sighed. "

What is this some videogame you're playing?"

"Digimon aren't videogame characters! They're real!" The switched one yelled. "I can show you one. Heck you saw them, we both did, four years ago."

"Four years ago…" Jun muttered. Her eyes then widened. "Are you talking about the monsters that held us captive!?"

No surely he couldn't possibly have meant that.

"Well, yes." Davis said. "Those creatures were digimon, but they're really not good examples…"

"You know what they are." Jun sutured. "You knew what whose monsters were but you didn't say anything." There was more than that. "You would protect those evil ghosts over your own family." She wasn't sure which made her angrier.

"They're not all bad." Davis said immediately. "Digimon are living sentient creatures, just like us. There are good and evil digimon just like there are good and evil people. That fairy that saved us then, she was a digimon too!"

"You still know what they are." Jun said. "Real monsters rampaging in the world's biggest city! Those things were the subject of prophets of doom. Don't you remember the panic that happened? You could have ended it, but you did nothing!"

"I only knew three months ago!" He defended.

"Then why didn't you tell us three months ago!?"

"I already told you I swore I wouldn't." Davis said. "Tai made…"

"Tai!" Jun yelled. "Do you care more about him than your own flesh and blood? Is that why you became Kari? Am I not good enough of an older sibling for you?!" She did not wait for a response. "How did you find out?"

He pulled a strange looking object from Kari's coat pocket.

"This is called a Digivice."

He then went on to tell an absurd tale of going into a computer and bonding with a blue dragon that he could "armor digivolve."

"Apparently Tai and Kari had been there before, along with their friends." Davis continued. "They had a guide then, Genai, who made them swear not to tell anyone about what they saw. He was afraid humans might abuse the digimon if they ever found their own way into the digital word, so he didn't want them to know about it."

"That's stupid." Jun said. "Do you have that little faith in humanity too?"

"He was right." Davis replied. "Ken found his own way in and now he's taking over."

"Didn't you just tell me there were good and evil people like digimon?'" Jun snorted. "We're not all bad either."

"Tell everyone about the digimon if you have too," Davis said "but please don't make me help this guy… I can't. I'm sorry."

Jun pondered her options. On the one hand she could say "If I tell, I tell everything, including about the rings." It was bluff; telling the world about the rings meant no swap with Matt. She had been confident before coming here Davis would not call the bluff, but now… there had to be another option. She looked around as plan b formed… Ken was nowhere to be seen… it might work.

"Jun?" Davis asked. Her silence had not bothered him, but her darting eyes seemed to raise his eyebrow.

"You want to bring this Ken down, right?" Jun asked. "You can do that 'helping' him better than not. He wants intelligence? Tell him lies. It's called being a 'double agent'."

Davis pondered this. "

He's on the fence." Jun thought. "Maybe if I bluff now..." She was about to do that when her brother burst into laughter.

"Jun, you are one clever villain." He said. "That's an awesome idea! Maybe I should have told you about all this sooner. "

"Victory." Jun thought.

* * *

**Matt:**

"I cannot resist your fruit… the serpent in me stirs"

No, to obvious...

"When I see your fruit, the spirit in me weakens. The serpent grows stronger."

That was even worse...

Matt sighed and put away his notebook. This was going nowhere.

"Damn it Akira!" Matt thought to himself "if you think writing a whole song around a stupid Engrish pun is a good idea, why don't you write it?"

The song's title was a pun on the English phrases "falling for you" and "fallen angel." It was meant to be about going bad for someone you love. He actually did like the idea when it was pitched. He didn't expect everyone else to push it on him when he voiced this. How had Yakuta said it? "You're mom's Christian right? I bet you can make 'Fallen for You' a great song!"

Jerks.

Matt had not set foot inside a church since before his parents broke up. Any one of his band mates was as equipped to write this song as he was. If anything he was probably less equipped than them since he came back from the digital world. He was never a stranger to the mountain gods before he encountered Garurumon, but now that he was literally under the protection of a divine beast… he was much stronger a Shinto than any in his band.

Might his Christian family be able to give him some ideas? Eh, probably not, but it was as good an excuse as any to visit them again… yeah that pleased him. TK might think the song was blasphemous or something, but mom would love the idea. He hadn't seen her in a longer time anyway… yes time to give mom a visit.

He then heard the doorbell ring. "Yamato, could you get that!?" Came his father's voice from down the hall.

"Okay!" Matt called back.

He joked to himself "It might be mom anyway." Wouldn't that be convenient?

Opening door he saw not his mother but Tai's sister Kari.

"Hey Matt!" Kari said. "I have a present for you!"

Now wasn't that a fine greeting?

"What's the occasion?" Matt asked.

"Oh nothing." Kari smiled.

She took a ring out her pocket and held it up to him. "I just found the cutest ring and thought it looked like the one TK has! Wouldn't it be even cuter if you had one that matched your brother's!?"

Matt laughed. He took the ring in his hand and examined it… yes it did remind him of the expensive present Davis gave TK on his last birthday. The only major difference was the that the gem was blue instead of red. Was it sapphire? He was no jeweler but it did look that way...

"I don't think I've seen TK wear his ring." Matt said. "Will it be as cute if it's just me?"

Kari hesitated for a second.

"Matt you'll look cute no matter what."

Had anyone ever complimented him like that before? It felt... forced. Still this was an expensive gift. How could he pass it up? Might as well see how "cute" it made him.

"Thanks very much Kari." Matt said.

He slipped on the ring.

Suddenly it dark… wait bright again… what? The musician was suddenly in a room he did not recognize. Looking around he saw most of the trappings of a teen girl's bedroom, including a very large "Teenage Wolves" poster, as well as, Jun?

Suddenly Matt jumped to attention. He quickly glanced back toward where he though he saw his stalker. He made eye contact with her… in a window… no, it looked like a mirror…

"J… Jun" he said lightly.

The girl in the mirror mouthed the same word. He jumped back. The girl in the mirror did exactly the same. Matt felt his back rub against the wall. He looked down. He saw small feminine hands trembling where his own should be, and obscuring his view down toward the rest of his body he saw… oh god… oh god no!

Things went black again for just a minute. When he came too he saw Davis standing over him.

"Jun, are you okay?"

"I'm not J…" he began "Wha… what's wrong with my voice?"

He looked down. Once again, there they were: two small breasts protruding from his upper belly.

"Oh god!" he said again.

He pushed Davis out of the way and ran to the mirror. Sure enough, there she was staring back at him with a horrified expression on her face, Jun Motomiya.

"This can't be real."

"You aren't really Jun, are you?" Davis asked.

The new girl stared back at him. "I'm not. I swear I'm not." He replied. "I know it's crazy, but you have to believe me. I'm not Jun, I'm Matt, Yamato Ishida."

"I believe you." He replied. "I'm not Davis either, I'm Kari Kamiya."

"Ka.. Kari?" Matt asked. "What happened to you? What happened to us?"

"Not to sound sarcastic, but we switched bodies with Davis and Jun." She replied "Also Gatomon did it with Veemon, she's in my, or rather Davis's room now."

"How did it happen?"

"I suspect through that ring on your finger now." Kari pointed toward Matt's hand.

Matt raised Jun's hand up toward his face. Sure enough there was a black ring on his borrowed finger… and it looked exactly like the one Kari… no her body had given him.

Kari spoke again before he could. "Just now you were wearing a ring like that in your body too, weren't you? How did you get it?"

"Kari… you.. erm, Davis gave it to me." He replied. "He came to my door in your body and said he had a ring that looks like this one and it would look cute one me."

Suddenly Kari then started looking distraught as well.

"No way!" she exclaimed. "Are you certain it was Davis?"

"It was your body." The former boy answered. "You said you switched with him didn't you? That would mean it was Davis."

"That can't be right." Kari said. "He promised me he didn't know how the rings worked or where they came from."

"You were switched by rings too?" Matt asked. "Rings like this?"

"I was." She replied. "Follow me and I'll show you."

Matt followed his current brother back to her current room. She pulled a small ring out from within her pillowcase. It too looked like the one he was wearing, expect the jewel was red instead of blue... the ring Davis had given TK.

"Davis and I were both wearing rings like this when we switched places. Later Gatomon and Veemon wore them and switched as well."

At the mention of the digimon's names a DemiVeemon came out from beneath the bed. "What's going on Kari? Who are you talking to?"

It looked over and saw Matt. On seeing him, the dragonspawn tried to rush back under the bed, but Matt interjected before such was possible.

"It's okay, Gatomon." He said "I'm not Jun; I'm Matt."

"Matt?" Gatomon asked "Did it happen to you too?"

"Looks like it." He and replied.

They quickly filled Gatomon in on the details.

"Then it's true." She said softly. "They stole our bodies."

"That… that couldn't have been what happened, could it?" Her partner whimpered.

"It has to be what happened." The former cat replied. She turned to Matt. "You said it yourself; Davis gave you the ring didn't he? He was doing to you exactly what he did to me when he gave me the other ring! He was helping his friend do what he did!"

Matt had not known Davis very well. TK hadn't had much good to say about him, but Tai seemed to love the guy, and from the few trips he made to the digital world with him, the boy seemed alright. Would he really do something like this? It was obvious he liked Kari, but would he really steal her body to get closer to her? Would Jun do it to him? Thinking back to that date he could almost see it… The girl was so ecstatic to be near him, but she didn't seem to care at all what he felt about it. Would she really go this far? He had not thought highly of Jun since that date, but he would never have guessed she'd steal his body. Then again, he never imagined such a thing was possible to begin with… Would she really… Wait, what if she did? What would she be doing now?

"Oh god." He said once again.

Surely she wouldn't. Surely she was just as confused about all of this as he was. Yet, he had to know. His eyes darted around the room. He saw a landline on a nightstand near Davis's bed.

"What's wrong Matt?" Kari asked.

"Can I use that phone?" he replied. "I… want to be sure. If Jun is in my body I want to hear what she has to say."

"Good idea." The former girl replied. "We shouldn't accuse her of this without hearing her side of the story."

"She's only going to lie to you, just like Davis did." Gatomon interjected.

"We don't know that." Her partner replied. "Even if Davis did lie, which I'm still not convinced of, maybe Jun doesn't know about it. Maybe he lied to her. Maybe he just led her on."

From Gatomon's expression it was obvious she did not believe that. From the tone of Kari's voice it was clear she didn't fully believe it either. Neither of them responded before Matt picked up the phone and called his home's number.

The phone rang a few times before his father picked up.

"Ishida residence." He said.

"Da.. erm, Mr. Ishida, it's um… Jun." Matt said.

He wanted to tell him who he really was, but he knew there was no way he'd believe him.

"Oh hi Jun. You're the girl Matt when out with last month aren't you?" Mr. Ishida began "How was it? I don't think I've seen you since then."

"It was… um... fine." Matt said gritting his teeth.

He hadn't told his father he'd been shanghaied in going out with Jun. If he did that, he would have to explain exactly why she'd been able to shanghai him, and telling him he was hiding information on the digital world would have been counter-productive.

He went on "I need to speak to Matt, can you put him on the phone?"

"I'm sorry, but no. He's in the shower right now."

Matt's heart fell to the bottom of his chest.

"I.. wha.. what happened?"

"He went straight to the shower after he answered the door. It's a bit weird for this hour, but, well, why not?" His father said. "There must have been a really sick person at the door or something."

"She really did it." He almost whispered.

Matt was sure his father made some confused reply to that, but he never heard it. The phone dangled off the night stand as he fell down onto his knees tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't stand anymore.

"She knew everything. She really stole my body."

Kari hung up the phone for him. She sat down with him. "I'm sorry." She said. Apparently she had heard enough of the conversation to know what happened.

"Don't be, Kari." He replied. "You said yourself Davis helped her. If she's doing that in my body, surely he's done it in yours too."

Matt could see the tears in her eyes forming too.

"Yeah, I figured as much…" she said.

They sat there together and wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the main reason I choose not to use a content warning. In this context, not including a content warning ought to raise enough eye-brows to count as a a warning in, and of itself. On the one hand, what Jun did is non-con, but it's not what I would guess most people think of when they hear those words. I didn't want people think I was doing that, and, on the other hand, I felt stating that their was non-con coming from the start revealed to much about where this was heading.
> 
> Notes for the fanfiction.net version can be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/179524657472/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-6-unsex-me-a


	7. Just Like in the Movies

**Davis:**

Davis was more than a bit anxious as he walked home from Matt's house. He still couldn't believe what had just happened... and what he had just done.

"Matt is going to hate us." A part of him said. "Worse, Kari is going to hate us if she finds out."

"She was always going to hate us if she found out" another part replied. "Who says she will anyway?"

"She found out Gatomon and Veemon switched the night it happened. Why would this be any different? Wait! I know exactly how it's different; this time we can't deny our involvement!"

Davis found that hard to argue with. His relationship with Kari was going down in flames. It was unavoidable now.

"If Kari hates me what about Tai? Am I able to visit him anymore? Does he even like me at that point?"

That thought sent shivers down his spine. It was his worst nightmare come to life! Was there any way to stop it?

"Do nothing; stay exactly where you are." the second part of him said "Stay exactly who you are."

He couldn't deny it was the easiest thing he could do. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the only thing he could do.

"Could I really do it?" He asked himself. "Could I really be Kari... forever?"

The days he'd spent as Tai's sister had been the best he could remember; it was his dream come true. He wanted to closer to his idol for as long as he'd know him... and now he was closer than he could have ever imagined. He wasn't just his friend anymore; he was his flesh and blood. He lived in his house. He could hang out with him whenever he wanted, and he would be there for him no matter what.

"What about Kari, the real Kari? Can you really take all that from her?"

Davis did not have an answer for that when he arrived... home... at the Kamiyas' apartment at least. When he opened the door, he found Mrs. Kamiya sitting on the couch with Veemon laying on her lap. They were watching TV and she was petting the new cat as they did.

"Veemon would die for my mother to treat him like that." Davis remembered thinking that, the night he first saw Mrs Kamiya... his new mother… doing that to the true Gatomon. Now it was happening. Veemon looked at him; the look of happiness in his eyes was one of the purest he'd ever seen.

"Welcome home sweetie." The human mother said.

The digimon on her lap added "Welcome home, partner."

Davis decided then that whatever he did, he had to do it with Veemon.

"If I lost him and Tai at the same time... I don't know what I would do. I don't know what I could do. Would life even still be worth living?"

"Can I talk to you, Gatomon... alone a for a bit?" He asked.

"Of course," the former dragon said. "That okay with you, mom?"

"Mom?" Davis noted.

"Of course." She said no longer petting.

Veemon seemed a bit disappointed by the end of that, but he climbed down anyway and walked toward his partner. They went up to Kari's room.

"What is it Davis?" Veemon asked once the door was closed.

"Veemon, partner," he began "when we got the rings, I asked you who you would want to be forever if you could be anyone. You told me Patamon. Is that still true?"

"No, it isn't."

That was the last answer Davis wanted to hear.

"He wants to go back." He thought. "I'm going to have to go back to my body with him and lose Tai."

It was relieving in a way... and somehow extremely disappointing, like a realizing a dream would never come true.

The former dragon then said "I want to be Gatomon"

With those words all of the disappointment in him melted away.

"Really?" he asked, "How come?"

"I don't think I've ever felt as happy as I've been in these days as her. I know that I've never felt... I've never been as free. I don't think I've ever been as powerful either. It's like I'm Veemon all the time, never a DemiVeemon, never that helpless creature." He stopped for a moment then continued. "I can do things for myself now; I don't need you to bring me food or to help me use the toilet. I can go outside. I can even talk to a few people besides you. It's like nothing I ever dreamed of. I..." He stuttered again before continuing. "I've been dreading the day I'd have to go back. I wished it would never come, that I could stay this way forever." He sighed.

"I know what you're getting at." the former dragon said, continuing once again "You want us to go back now don't you? I've known it was coming. I've accepted it. Let's go ahead."

"Veemon, I don't know if I want to go back either." Davis said.

"Really?" the digimon asked. "Would you really do that, for me?"

"It's not entirely for you. It's not even entirely for me and you; now I have Jun to consider too."

Davis told his partner everything that had happened that day: Jun's arrival, going to Ken's, even finding out Ken was the Digimon Emperor and that he was a double agent for him now. He had wanted to skip that part, to not mention he had anything to do with him, but with so much on the line, so much changing, his partner had the right to know. He told him that, and he told him of all the conflicting thoughts he had on the way home.

"It sounds to me like you want this too." Veemon said. "Why are you hesitating?"

"Because if we stay like this it means Kari and Gatomon stay in our bodies. I don't know that I can leave Kari like that. What about you? You've told me how you love Gatomon. Can you really do this to her?"

"I do love her." The former dragon said. "But I also envy her. I envy her more than I ever envied anyone, more than even Patamon. All this time she's been living a life I could never have imagined. Why does she get to live like that, while I hide under the bed? Why shouldn't I get a chance to see the world beyond your room?"

The digimon sighed again. "You told Kari multiple times that she needed to learn something about you to switch back. You told Gatomon and I the same thing. I can't speak for you or Kari, but I know Gatomon needs to learn about me, about my life. Maybe after she's been confined as long as I have, maybe then I'll feel obliged to switch back."

"That same night," Davis began "when I asked you who you'd want to be forever, I also asked if you'd actually want to do that. The answer you gave me was that you would only do it if I went with you. Has that answer changed to? If I went back to being Davis, would you come back with me, or would you stay here and be Gatomon?"

"That answer hasn't changed." Veemon said. "I don't think it can ever change. You freed me years of solitude. You taught me almost everything I know. All this time you've fed me, cared for me, even helped me every time I used the bathroom. I couldn't leave you. I will go with you anywhere you go, no matter what monster I have to become."

"Monster" Davis knew what his partner meant by that. To humans it meant an evil inhuman beast, but to digimon it was just part of their name, digital monsters. Davis could not escape the feeling that if he stayed here, if he would be a monster in the sense we always knew, an evil creature not fit to be near the likes of Tai… and yet, the longer Davis started at him, at his digital monster, the longer he looked into his cat like eyes begging him not go, the more evil going felt.

"Don't worry about it partner." He said. "We'll stay like this."

He did not know how he could have described the feeling he had after speaking those words. Part of him still screamed how twisted a thing he had just done, and yet, somehow, he was at peace. All the fear and anxiety that had gripped him since Jun demanded his help had melted away.

Veemon's face lit up. It was like nothing the former boy had ever seen. Those same catlike eyes that begged him to stay, the joy they now conveyed was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. The new cat hugged him.

"Thank you, partner." He sang.

Perhaps the part of him still protested. Davis decided then that he would never listen to it again. Every other part of him was singing with joy

* * *

**Jun:**

Jun continued to stare at the mirror as the steam faded.

"He's perfect." She thought. "He's even better than I imagined! It's like I stepped inside a Greek statue."

She had felt like a maiden on her wedding night. As far as she was concerned, that was exactly what she was.

"Our marriage has begun at last, my beloved Matt." She said aloud. "'Til death do us part."

* * *

**Kari:**

Kari rang the bell to her former house… no, to her house and waited for a response.

"Coming!" her mother's voice said. The previous night she had been convinced Davis had stolen her body. A part of her still did not believe it, though. She wanted to silence it. She also wanted more than anything to understand why, why the friend she'd had for so long had done this. Surely, he hadn't just turned evil, had he? There had to be a way to get him to give her body back.

Mrs. Kamiya opened the door. "Hey Davis!" she said. "are you here to see Tai?"

"I actually wanted to see Kari." She said. "She is here, correct?"

"She's in the living room." Her mother said, stepping aside. "Come on in."

Kari did so. Sure, enough Davis was there, sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hello… Kari." She said.

"Hey Davis."

The former girl turned to Mrs. Kamiya. "Is it okay if I talk to her alone for a bit?"

"I don't see why not." She replied. She went off into another room.

"What's up?" her body asked.

"Davis, please don't pretend to be ignorant anymore. I know what you did to Matt. I know what you did to me."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." The former boy said. He turned off the TV.

"Why did you do it?" Kari asked. "Why did you steal my body?"

"I never intended to." He said. "I don't know if you'll believe me or not, but I didn't. I gave the ring to TK not you. I was hoping to embarrass him in his body. I didn't think he'd give you the ring, let alone before I got mine on."

It actually did make sense. One of the things fueling her doubt was that the ring did seem to have been intended for TK. Why would Davis have given him the ring if she were his target?

"If you didn't steal my body, can I have it back?" She asked.

"I'm sorry. I really am, but no." the boy she had once trusted said.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I… I really like being you." Davis said. "I never would have guessed I would, but I do. Also, Veemon likes Gatomon's body a lot more than I like this one. I don't think we can go back, sorry."

"Sorry." Kari repeated in her mind. "Really?"

"Davis, please, I know you're not like this." She said. "Just give me my body back. Surely you don't want it forever. Would you really give up everything you had to be me: your friends, your family, even your gender? What do I have that's so valuable you'd give all that up?"

"I'm doing this to keep my friends." He said. "Most of them are still with me here, and I suspect I'm not going to keep them if I go back."

Was that really it?

"As for my, erm, gender, I'll admit that was awkward at first, but I think I'm getting used to it. Are boys and girls really that different? I can live with it. It's worth keeping my friends. It's worth keeping Tai."

Was that really it?

"What about your family?"

"Jun is in on it now; I can visit her whenever." Davis said. "Heck, there's no reason I can't visit my parents anymore either. I still do have my friends after all. You've come my house more than once before. I can keep doing that as you."

"What if I were to object to that?" Kari asked.

"Then I will have to start objecting to you coming over here and seeing yours" He replied.

Was that really what it would come to?

"Please Davis, I don't want to be you." She begged. "You don't have to lose your friends? Just give me my body back, Matt and Gatomon theirs too, and I'll pretend none of this happened. We can still be friends. You and Tai can still be friends."

She didn't know if it was a lie or not. She didn't want it to be, but she didn't know if she could handle making it true.

"I can try." She thought. "If nothing else I can say it to get my body back. I have to."

Whether it was true or not, it was plain Davis did not believe it. "I'm sorry, but I can't accept that."

"You aren't sorry." Kari said. "If you were you would help me."

For a second the look on Davis's face actually made her believe he was sorry.

"How about this," he eventually said. "I'll agree to switch back with you, but only if you agree to marry me when we do."

"What?"

"Marry me. I'll believe you then, and I'll be part of this family no matter what. When we grow up, marry me, and I'll switch us back on our honeymoon."

It was insane.

"Davis, that won't be for years!" She exclaimed. "What about until then? Do we just… stay like this?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." Davis said.

There was no way she would ever agree to that.

"Davis, you know I can't do that." She said aloud.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." He said.

There was silence for several minutes after that.

The silence was broken when Tai came into the room. "Hey Davis," he said. "what brings you here?"

She had a plan B.

"Tai, I'm not Davis, I'm Kari. You have to help me!"

Tai looked at her visibly confused.

"Davis, are you feeling okay?" He asked. "Kari is right here."

"That's not Kari," she said pointing at her stolen body. "That's Davis!" She pulled her ring out from her pocket and showed it. "He stole my body! He used a ring like this to switch us, and now he won't let me switch back!"

"Is this some kind of joke?" Tai said. "It's really morbid." "

Yeah Davis," the thief interjected. "can we not do that?"

"Shut up!" It was the first time Kari could remember saying those words. "Shut up and stop lying!" She turned back to her brother. "Please, you have to help me! He has to be keeping the other ring around here somewhere. Surely you can find it. Surely you can undo this!"

"Davis, please stop this." He responded. "You're my friend, but you can't talk to my sister like that."

"I am your sister!" She pleaded. "Remember that time you took that ten-thousand-yen dad left out when we were younger? You made me promise not to tell. Only we now about it. I'm Kari!"

"That's a low blow Davis," her brother said. "You know I told about that when you asked me if I regretted anything small. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I am your sister and I need your help!"

The "tell your friend something only you and they would know to convince them of who you are" trick had been what she and Matt had settled on. It worked in the movies, right? She tried it again. "

What about the time I broke your tooth when I gave you that gummy that turned out to be hard candy?"

"I told you about that when you offered me gummies." He replied. "Davis, this is getting really old. You're insulting my intelligence and you're harassing my sister. Please stop this, or I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"This can't be happening." She thought.

"Please Tai, you have to believe me." His sister pleaded. "I'm telling the truth!"

"That's enough." Tai said firmly. "We can talk again later when you've stopped this sick joke. Please leave now."

"But Tai!"

"No buts." He said. "Leave."

It felt like the world was crashing down on her as she walked back to the door… as she closed it behind her. Her own brother… had just kicked her out of her own house. She couldn't help tearing up as she looked back at it.

"Why is this happening to me?"

When she arrived back at Davis' home… at her new home… she saw her new reflection in the window.

"This is it, isn't it?" She thought. "That's me now. This is home now. I'm stuck this way for the rest of my life."

She opened the door and walked in. Matt was already there.

"From the look on your face I'm gathering you didn't get anywhere with Tai." He said gloomily.

"That's true." She lamented. "Please tell me you had better luck."

"My bandmates didn't buy it either." He replied just as gloomily. "No matter how many of our secrets I knew, they just chalked it up to me being the obsessive stalker I always told them Jun was."

It seemed people were more inclined to believe mundane explanations for strange things than fantastic ones…

"What are we gonna do Matt?" the current gogglehead asked. "Are we stuck like this forever?"

"No way! I can't accept that! There has to be a way to switch back." He sighed. "I just… don't know what it is quite yet."

It was as unsatisfying an answer as she expected.

* * *

**Davis:**

"Two pair!" Deputymon said. "I win again!"

The living gun was the second digimon to hold the digidestined captive since they answered Biyomon's distress call. The first had turned out to be minion of the digimon emperor who put them all in a jail cell. This new captor was… at least more selective. He had only taken the girls captive, which Davis now found himself among.

"Lucky me." He thought.

He actually meant it. Getting to play outside was a step up from being tied up in a cage. It wasn't as far as he'd like, but it was an improvement.

"Sorry Cody."

Sora and Yolie had been whispering about escape when they though Deputymon wasn't listening. They had yet to come up with a good plan. The area they were is completely fenced off and outrunning a campion digimon had already shown itself fool's task with their previous captor.

"Three of a kind! I win yet again."

To add insult to injury the current captor had amazing luck at the game they were playing. He and the other girls were running out of chips. The next hand revealed a 3, an ace, and a 9, all clubs.

"Smells like a flush." Davis thought.

"30 coins" Yolie bid.

"I'm out." Sora responded.

"I'm out too." Deputymon echoed.

"Looks like his luck ran out." The former gogglehead thought. By now he had noticed the revolver did not seem to bluff when that happened.

"At least he's honest." The irony in that thought did not escape him. "…I have to beat him."

First that meant getting through this round. The former gogglehead looked at his hand. He had a 4 and a 10, both spades. In other words, he had nothing.

"I raise to 50" he said anyway. She'd believe he had the flush, wouldn't she?

"I call."

"Drat." He thought.

They revealed their cards. Yolie did not have a flush either, but she did have a 3. Low as that pair was, it won. Yolie had seen through his bluff.

"It's never been something I've been good at." That thought troubled him more now than ever.

They drew their next hand. He had a 2 of diamonds and a 7 of hearts. Literally the worst hand possible in the game.

"Come on!" he thought.

The revealed cards were a 6, two kings, a queen, and a jack. He still had nothing to play. It looked like a very high straight was possible, though.

"I'm out" Sora said again.

Yolie and Deputymon raised. It was back to Davis. He looked at his remaining chips. It was enough to meet the raise, but not much else. He would be able to ante the next hand, but not the following one.

"What have I got to lose?" he thought.

"I'm all in."

Both of his opponents looked at him. He kept his face as blank as he could manage. This bluff could not be called.

"I'm out." Deputymon said. T

hat was the easy part. The revolver always folded when he had too weak of a hand. All that was left was Yolie. The two of them stared at eachother for several seconds.

"I'm out too." She finally said.

"Maybe I'm better a bluffing than I thought."

He pulled his winnings toward him. It was the biggest pile of chips he'd had since the start of the game.

They were about to deal another hand when an unexpected guest arrived. "Well if it isn't my nampy pampy excuse for a sidekick Deputymon!"

They all looked up and saw their original captor, the town's sheriff, Starmon.

His sidekick leapt on top of the table. "You quit that talk!" He said. "You have no right!"

"You're right." The sheriff replied. "The time for talking is over."

Deputymon leapt from the table and approached Starmon. The digidestined gaped. They were about to duel. The group had all stood up by the time the captors met. "

I saw a movie like this once." Yolie commented. "The good guy won."

"Which one is that?" Sora asked.

"Take three steps backward then turn around and fire." Starmon said.

Davis weighed his options as they did. If they were going to make a break for it, now would be the time while the captors were distracted. Of course, they had the same issues to deal with as they had the whole time.

"I wish we could fight them." He thought.

Such was always preferable to running. Unfortunately the sheriff had taken away their D3's when he took them, and Deputymon had left them at the jail. There would be no digivolution going into any fight they had.

"Could we win without digivolution?" the former gogglehead asked himself.

He glaced at his partner. "Gatomon is a champion digimon, just like both of them."

In theory Veemon ought to be able take them on in his current body, no armor needed. He knew why that wouldn't work though. Kari had explained it to him between her swap and Jun's. Without its tail ring, Gatomon's body was as week as a rookie.

"Go whoever!"

"Ring…" Davis thought.

He brought his hand to Kari's pocket and felt his black ring, the one that had switched him into this body. Gatomon had thought it was just like her tail ring the night she saw it. Would it work? Could it work?

"Win lose or draw, I'll be coming out winning."

He pulled out the ring and looked at it as subtly as he could. Now that it had been compared to a dark ring to him, that was the only thing it reminded him of. He feared it would have a similar effect on the others. Gatomon taking on Starmon while they both seemed to have dark rings would raise far too many questions.

"If only the whole thing were as red as the jewel… wait."

Davis had several reckless ideas in his life. This one took quite a bit of the proverbial cake, even by his standards. He had no better though. He stepped back behind the other girls. Only Veemon seemed to notice, turning to look at him. His partner put his finger over his mouth, shushing the new cat. Then, he put that finger in his mouth and bit down hard. He ran the ring around the wound as quickly as he could.

"Star Shower!" The sheriff cried out. With that attack the deputy fell.

He turned around to face the digidestined. "One down, three to go." He said.

Starmon then noticed Davis. "What are you doing?"

Everyone present turned to look at the former leader as well. It was now or never. He glanced down at the ring in his hand. It was red everywhere he could see.

"I'm beating you!" Davis exclaimed. He then threw the ring at Veemon's tail. "Get him buddy!"

The ring landed around Veemon's tail like a horseshoe in a game. As if feeling its power, the new cat leapt into the air, very high into the air. It wasn't as high as Rabbitmon had jumped, but it looked like more than Flamedramon ever had. He landed behind Starmon, and before the slave could react he was upon him. "Lightning Paw!" The attack landed, though it missed the dark ring. The sheriff was driven several steps back.

"Why you!" he cursed.

Then he turned around and launched an attack of his own.

"Star Shower!"

Meteors rained down. No one in the group had been able to dodge them when they first encountered Starmon, but now, obviously boosted by the ring, Veemon could. As one meteor hit he leapt out of its way, then the second his foot touched the ground he leapt again and dodged another. It continued until all the meteors were spent.

"Cat's eye hypnotism!"

Veemon's eyes glowed pink, and then, so did Starmon's. The star fish stopped in its tracks.

"Dodge this!" the hypnotist yelled, charging his opponent.

"Lightning Paw!"

This time the attack directly hit the dark ring. It instantly shattered.

"You go Gatomon!" Davis yelled.

Yolie's reaction was instead "What just happened?"

"I saved us." Veemon replied.

"I can see that, but how?"

"Is that… your tail ring?" Sora said pointing at his tail.

"What would that have to do with anything?" Yolie asked in turn.

"Gatomon used to have a ring on her tail that let her fight at champion level." Sora replied. She looked at the supposed tail ring again and said "Though I'm pretty sure it was yellow and not red."

"It's not her old tail ring." Davis said. "It's just a ring I had. I wondered if it would work and it looks like it did."

"Does that mean the power of the ring was just in Gatomon's head?" Sora asked. "What's that called? The placebo effect?"

"That is correct." Yolie answered.

She sat down near Veemon and reached for the ring. "Can I see that? Maybe if you tired that again without the ring we could…"

The new cat pulled his tail away before she could touch it.

"I'd rather not." He said.

"Come on Yolie, plac…ebo or not that ring has always been important to her. Let her keep it." His partner added. He also thought, "Plus I don't want you knowing its covered in blood." but he did not say it. Feeling the blood on the ring might complicate that.

On that thought he hid his wounded finger in his fist… Good thing the others seemed too focused on Veemon's feats to notice it before now.

The would-be experimenter backed down. "Alright, I won't push it."

"Ugh, what happened?" Starmon asked, just now coming out of his hypnotic daze.

"It's kind of a long story." Davis said.

He went on to tell it anyway.

* * *

** Ken: **

"Guys look out! Starmon is behind you!" Cody yelled.

"Don't worry." Sora said. "We broke the dark ring. He's going to let you out now."

Ken watched on his screen as his enemy was released. He had seen everything that had happened to Veemon since he put on the ring.

"Took him long enough." The emperor chuckled.

All a dark ring was, on a fundamental level, was an extension of his dark digivice, and all a digivice was at its core was a machine to exchange information between the minds of humans and digimon. Normally this meant sending emotional energies from the human to aid in digivolution. With a little tweaking however, you could transmit almost any information this way that you wanted, even, he found, a command. That is what the dark rings did. They allowed him to communicate information with more digimon than just his D3 could on its own: emotions, commands, even images, and every good communication worked two ways. The emperor had been seeing through the eyes of his slaves for a long time now. This was the first time, however, see had done this not with a dark ring, but with a gemmed switching ring instead. He knew it had to be possible. These jeweled rings were designed to handle much more information than just commands and images. Anything able to process an entire human mind had to be. This was, however, the first time a digimon had worn such in ring in the same area as a control spire. With that, several hypotheses were confirmed. The irony of it all was not that Ken could see through the jeweled ring's bearer. The unexpected thing was that the bearer was foolish enough to wear it after it had been pointed out how similar its ring was to the dark rings and not before.

"I suppose not everyone is keen on the idiosyncrasies of computer science and mind control."

The children on the screen left the jailhouse, no doubt marching toward the area's control spire. Once the reached it they would certainly destroy it and end the transmission along with his control of the area. Ken did not mind. He had several tricks up his sleeve.

He picked up his D3. "Sneeze." He said.

"Achoo!" Veemon sneezed as commanded.

"Bless You" Davis said.

As expected, commands could also be sent through these new rings. Combine that with Gatomon's champion strength and the emperor knew that, with a thought, he could have the former dragon kill most of the digidested right there.

"Where's the fun in that, though?" he thought.

"Trust but verify." An American president had said that not long ago. It was Ken's attitude toward Davis and Veemon now. He knew better to trust everything they told him. Fortunately, with this ability he did not have to. The things Veemon saw would be worth much more than the words he or his partner said. There was another layer to that attitude as well. Reagan did not defeat his enemies in the Soviet Union by force; he watched them collapse from within. That was what Ken wanted to see happen to his enemies here. That was why, more than anything, he sent them the rings in the first place. He wanted to watch their miserable "friendship" fall in on itself as they tore each other apart with envy. From what he gathered from his meeting with Davis and Jun, that was exactly what was happening. His best-case scenario was coming true! Yes, he could strike a great blow now with a murderous command, but he would have plenty of opportunities to do that. He would save it for a last resort. Why strike a second killing blow when you could just let the first wound fester? The game would be no fun if he could just win it in one move. Let the digimon think it was free. Rule him not as his master but as the devil on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

"Star Shower!"

Meteors fell upon the dark spire and destroyed it. The transmission abruptly ended. For now, the little digimon was free from him completely.

"If only I had the dark spirals designed before I made those gems!"

The gems were his best marvel of engineering to date. Not only could gems of the same pair communicate over with each-other arbitrarily long distances, they even allowed communication not just between human and digimon, but between digimon and digimon and even between human and human. Unfortunately, the rings attached to them had the same limitations as the dark rings before them. They could not communicate with him, with his dark digivice and all the infrastructure connected to it, unless they were in range of the dark digivice itself or of a dark spire to act as a relay. The dark spirals had the same limitless range as the gems, but it was not a dark spiral connected to this gem. For now, the emperor would have to make do.

"For now." He repeated to himself in his mind.

He pulled up the image of the first dark spiral. The violet gems that had been attached to the dark rings the spiral once was were still visible on it now as a single larger gem. Had he not been able to use the gems as a guide he would not have been able to figure out how to fuse dark rings together in the limited time he had still living with his parents. The gems had already accelerated the development of the dark spirals. Soon the dark spirals would return the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on the fanfiction.net version can be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/179640003497/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-7-just-like-in-the


	8. The Episode that Caused the Shipping

Davis:

"Davis! Are you alright!?"

As quickly as it started the dream was over. The former leader had woken up, covered in sweat. Veemon was standing over him.

"What's wrong?" the cat said. "Was it that dream again?"

"Yeah, it was."

The last few nights Davis had been having some variation of the dream he just had. That... thing drawing him toward it, toward its world. When he described the tentacled monster to his partner he was told it looked like a digimon, but he knew it was not a digimon. He did not know how, but he knew it was some other being from some other world, and it wanted him in its world.

"What do you think it means?" Davis went on to ask.

"I don't know." Veemon replied.

Davis could see the sun beginning to rise through his window.

"It doesn't matter." He finally said. "I'll just go ahead and get up."

He changed into his school uniform fairly quickly and went downstairs. No one else was there. It seemed the former gogglehead had been the first to wake up.

"Figures." He thought.

He sat down at the table anyway and decided to wait there for breakfast. It didn't take him long to get bored though.

He pulled out his new cell phone, another perk of Kari's life he'd grown to love. The first thing he saw opening it up was a message from Jun.

"Hey bro, call me back when you get this message."

It seemed as though the former boy had not been called "bro" in quite a while. In a way he appreciated it. In another it felt... weird? He could not explain it. Either way, he was also glad no one else had been up already to hear Matt's voice call him that.

"Note to self, answer voice mail in private." He thought. He looked up at the clock. Jun had said "call me back when you get this message," but her brother doubted she would be up now... on the other hand, with Tai and his new parents also asleep now seemed to be the best time to call her back and not be overheard.

"Eh, she can get up early too if I have to."

He returned the call. The phone rang several times but it was answered.

"Mattikins! You're finally calling me back!" Jun squeed into the phone.

"Actually it's me, Davis."

"Oh..." his sister stuttered. She paused, Davis guessed looking at a clock. "Why are you calling me at this hour?'

"You called me 'bro' and wanted me to call you back. Now's a good a time to do it in private."

The former girl only groaned.

"This isn't what I had in mind... Couldn't you have just done it in the bathroom later or something?"

"I could have." he admitted. "But I had to get up now and misery loves company.

Jun groaned again.

"Why couldn't you have been Matt? I must have asked him to call me back 30 times now!" she whined. "Ugh, I suppose you are the next best thing."

What did that mean?

Before Davis could ask Jun seemed to change the subject.

"How is your marriage going?" she asked.

"You're more screwed up than I am if you still think this is a marriage." he thought in response. Still, he humored her.

"It's been amazing." He said. It wasn't a lie.

"Good to hear." his sister replied. "Mine's been going really well too. There are a couple of short comings, though. Matt not replying to me is the big one. I don't think you can help me with that, but you might be able to help me with the other."

"What are you getting at Jun?"

"So far, my marriage has been better than I thought it would be. Matt's body... his life.. it's more than I dreamed of. There is one thing I kind of miss though... I do regret that I only got to date him once before all this. Did you ever date Kari? I'd feel even worse if that happened with me."

Davis had never dated his crush. It had made him feel bad more than once before. Now, however, now that he'd accepted her life... it didn't seem to bother him anymore. He still decided to humor his sister.

"I have felt bad about that..."

"I thought so." Jun continued. "I've been trying to get Matt to go out like this, but he won't return my calls, so I started thinking of an alternative. I don't think we can replicate the experience of dating Matt or Kari exactly, but I think we can make a good approximation with the rings."

"Where are you going with this, Jun?" he asked cautiously.

She hesitated for a moment, but then said.

"Why don't we use the rings, to swap our current bodies, and then go out like that? It will be like I'm dating Matt and you're dating Kari."

"Jun, that's disgusting." he replied. "We're brother and sister. You know we can't do that."

"Not in these bodies." Jun countered. "Matt and Kari aren't related."

"Jun, listen to yourself! Matt and Kari aren't related, but we are." He said "Besides, what about your marriage? Do you really what 'Matt' going out with 'Kari'? Do you really want to break up what you already have?"

"I... I will admit I'm not keen on that." she replied. "It's not the best-case scenario, but I think it works. It's not meant to be permanent, just until Matt comes to his senses. We don't even have to stay switched the whole time, just on days we go out. Believe me I wouldn't want to be Kari to long anyway, especially not when I could be Matt."

"She really is more messed up that I am." Davis thought.

He decided to use a pragmatic counter-argument.

"We couldn't do that if we wanted to at this point." He said. "If Matt isn't returning your calls there's no way he'll let us use his ring. Kari won't loan me hers either. We'd need another pair."

"We can get one easily." Jun countered. "Ken said he'd give us as many as we wanted. Just come up with some phony intelligence to give him."

"I think you're missing the point Jun." Davis said, changing back to the main issue. "We are brother and sister. You know this isn't going to work as well as I do."

It was a while before Jun responded.

"All right." She said in a tone Davis couldn't quite make sense of.

"Is she relieved?" He thought.

"If you change your mind call me back." she continued

Davis just hung up then.

"Why can't I have a normal sibling?" he thought.

The thought of that reminded him.

Mrs. Kamiya came down shortly there after. Taking the cue Davis went back to wake his new, more than normal sibling.

"Who needs Jun?" he asked himself.

"Wake up, big brother."

"Morning sis" His idol replied.

They ate breakfast together like they had every other day since Davis acquired this body. It was as great as ever.

"Tai is my sibling now, not Jun." He thought as they did. "No more of Jun's creepiness for me, just Tai."

A part of him then replied "If Jun isn't your sibling anymore why not date her in Kari's body?" The rest of Davis was disgusted. "Because she's Jun! Ew!"

"Did you sleep well, big brother?" He asked Tai, as much as anything to get his mind off of this.

"I did" Tai answered. "I had a dream I was a Kamen Rider. That was fun. Did you have any interesting dreams last night?"

From one awkward topic to another...

"Do I want to tell Tai about this?" he wondered. "I didn't have a problem telling Veemon..."

"These last few nights I've been having a nightmare about a giant squid-man dragging me into its world." he said truthfully. "I don't know what to make of it."

"That's horrible!" Tai said. "Are you worried about being kidnapped? I hope seeing Agumon captured didn't do that to you..."

"I don't think that's it..." Davis replied. "I don't know though."

"Don't worry about it either way." Her brother said. "Nobody's taking the girl that brought down MetalGreymon."

"Thanks."

"Whatever it is you can take it on." His idol continued. "We can take it on. We overthrew the Dark Masters after all!"

Somehow that seemed to have the opposite effect as the last thing Tai said. Davis chose not to outwardly show it. They discussed other things for the rest of the meal.

Afterwords they walked together to school. Davis kept thinking back to the dreams, despite everything Tai had said.

"I didn't overthrow the Dark Masters," he thought "but I did take out MetalGreymon. That's enough isn't it? Surely this thing can't be worse than that?"

As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise, somehow the former gogglehead could not believe it.

"See you this afternoon!'" Tai said when they arrived at the highschool.

"See you then!" Davis replied. They parted ways and he continued toward his middle school.

"It doesn't matter." he thought "Tai is my brother now. He's there to protect me, like never before. He'll stop the... whatever it is."

Davis was not sure how much he liked that thought. As much as he looked up to the older leader, he had never felt dependent on him. Imagining his idol protecting him... it was comforting, but somehow it seemed... weak? He knew it was something he'd never have done before. It was something he'd expect of Kari.

"I am Kari now." He thought. "What does that matter?"

It did matter. He couldn't escape that. He knew he couldn't depend on Tai for everything... and yet, right now, he didn't know what else to do.

"What am I going to do?" he thought

Suddenly, Davis felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey Kari!"

He grabbed the hand and twisted it.

Davis turned around to see TK bawking in pain.

The former gogglehead released him. "What do you want?"

"Jesus Kari, what was that for?" his rival asked.

"I'm not in the mood for you right now." Was all Davis said in reply. TK had no response.

They went on to class. Davis did feel bad about snapping at TK, but he decided not to show it...

Class began, and the teacher droned on lecturing them...

"Is it dark in here?"

He was still sitting at his desk, but he couldn't see anyone else around him. He felt his legs become wet and cold. Looking down he saw a shallow pool around him of the same black water from his dreams.

"How is this possible?" He thought "I… I can't be dreaming, can I? I'm awake."

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He called and out no one answered.

He sat there in the cold darkness for several minutes. He felt as though he were slowly sinking into the dark water.

"Kari! KARI!"

In a flash he was back in the classroom, the students around him. He found himself standing up, having sprung to attention.

"Are you alright there, Hikari?" The teacher asked.

"I… I'm fine."

He was about to sit down when things got dark again for second. When he came to, he was in the arms of the student that had been sitting behind him. It seemed he had almost fainted.

"Obviously not." The teacher said. "You need to go to the nurse's office."

Davis complied. He couldn't stop thinking back to what has just happened.

"This isn't just a dream is it?" He thought. "That thing really is trying to abduct me."

Somehow, he had known that, even from the first dream. Having it confirmed though only made him more afraid.

"I… I really like being you." Davis heard. He turned toward the voice and saw… himself, both his current body and his old one. The new spoke to the old "I never would have guessed I would, but I do. Also, Veemon likes Gatomon's body a lot more than I like this one. I don't think we can go back, sorry."

"I'm hallucinating." Davis thought. "That has to be it. It's all still a dream, just a really weird one."

Somehow, he could not get himself to believe it.

He kept walking down the hall. As he progressed he got the feeling he was being followed. Turning around he saw…

"Oh my god!"

Davis had never seen a creature quite like it, even in the digital world. It was the same dark color as the monster from his dreams and almost the same shape, but it was much shorter and more humanoid, lacking its octopus head or dragon wings. Still "humanoid" wasn't quite the word to describe it. Somehow it reminded him of a fish. Either way seeing it in real life was more than enough to frighten him.

The former gogglehead grabbed the bookbag from his back into his hand.

"Leave me alone!" He shouted. He charged the monster, swinging the bag like a club. Before he could reach it, however, it had disappeared.

* * *

Veemon:

The former dragon stared at his now barren tail. Davis had forbidden him to wear the ring to school.

"The blood is already chipping off. They'll know it's a dark ring." He had said. "Give it to me and I'll get some paint for it later."

That had been the day after the dreams stared. Veemon did not think his partner remembered that pledge in the stress they were causing. The new cat had decided not to pressure him in his current state.

"You okay Gatomon?" Patamon asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

As had quickly become the norm, or, to an outside glance, remained the norm, the former rivals were hanging out in the tree, waiting for their partners. Veemon hadn't stopped exploring the campus by any means, but somehow leaving the runt here by himself all day felt… wrong.

He continued "I just miss my old tail ring."

"Yeah," Patamon sighed. "I figured as much. I'm sorry about that. I wish I could get you a new one."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault anyway."

He knew Gatomon had missed her ring quite a bit. It wasn't hard to see why. If Veemon missed his equivalent after having it for less than a day, it was hard to grasp just how much she ought to miss the real thing she had for most of her life. He knew digimon had an innate drive for power. To have so much and then lose it… The former dragon would feel sorry for the new one whenever he thought about that.

Then he would remember loosing much more power every day in his old body, and that sympathy melted away.

"Enjoy it, Gatomon." He thought. "I'm free now."

The final bell rang not long after that.

"Looks like it's time for another digital world trip." Patamon said.

The schoolkids began filing out of the front door. The digimon knew the drill by now. Once it looked like they were all gone one of the digidedestined would open the window to the computer lab. They would check to be sure no one was there to see them, then make their way into the lab through the window.

Something slightly out of the ordinary happened this time, however. As the torrent of kids leaving the school petered out to a trickle, one of the last kids they saw leaving was Davis.

"Did Kari forget we have a trip planned today?" Patamon asked.

Given the context it seemed likely.

"I think so." Veemon replied. "I'll go get her."

Taking advantage of his catlike appearance and of few students to see him anyway, the former dragon went down the tree and began to follow his partner.

"I'll wait until there aren't any other kids around and then call out to him." He thought.

As they crossed the street that began to happen, the last other student in eyesight taking a different turn. Veemon was about to call out to his partner when something… very much out of the ordinary began to happen. It almost looked like Davis was… fading?

"Da... Davis?" the digimon stuttered.

As the words left his mouth the fading was complete. The human disappeared altogether, leaving behind only his bookbag. It fell to the ground in his absence.

"DAVIS!"

* * *

**Kari:**

"By increasing the system memory, I'm expanding the D-terminals' capabilities."

"Excellent work, Yolie." Kari responded.

Before she could continue, TK walked into the room. Looking at him, Kari could tell he was very upset.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"I… it's nothing." He responded.

"If you need to talk about it, you can always do it with me."

TK seemed a bit surprised now in addition to gloomy, then some of the gloom seemed to vanish.

"Thanks, Davis." He said, cracking a brief smile.

"Anyway," Yolie continued "I thought it would be a good idea if we could communicate in the digital world in real time, not just through e-mail."

"That sounds like a great idea." Cody said. "It could help us keep tabs on the Digimon Emperor."

"I agree," Kari concurred. "Great job."

Before the conversation could continue, Veemon burst into the room.

"Kari disappeared!" he yelled.

The group turned to him and gasped.

"Are you positive she's not just running late?" Cody asked.

"Yes!" the former dragon said "She's not just missing, she literally just disappeared! Right in front of me!"

"That's… disturbing." TK responded.

"Tell me about it." The real Kari said.

"It's crazy is what it is. How could somebody just disappear?" Yolie questioned.

"Maybe she went to went to the digital world?" Cody suggested. "I could see inter-dimensional transportation working like that."

"Doesn't it usually involve being sucked through a portal?" The bespectacled girl countered.

"Usually yeah," TK answered, "but maybe not always. Kari and I, we saw digimon just appear and disappear in the real world four years ago. I only saw it once, right after Myotismon died, but Kari says she saw it a lot while the rest of us were in the digital world."

On one hand, Kari was disappointed he had beaten her to pointing that out. On the other hand, she was kind of relieved.

"She is in another dimension, but she's not in the digital world." Veemon said. "For the last few days she's been having dreams about some other creature taking her to its world. I think that's what just happened."

"Did she tell you what that creature was like?" The current gogglehead asked.

"It was a giant humanoid with an octopus for a head and dragon wings." He replied.

Yolie brought her hand to her chin, seemingly in thought.

"That sounds like something I read in a book once… I can't quite remember where."

"It sounds to me like a Dragomon." Patamon said.

"Dragomon, eh?" Yolie said. "Let me pull that up in Izzy's digimon analyzer."

She pulled up an image on the computer screen. It did resemble what Veemon had described quite a bit, but there was one major difference.

"I guess that is the right shape, but Kari said the thing she saw was all black and had red eyes." He pointed out.

"Red eyes make it sound like it was under the Digimon Emperor's control." TK said. "I don't know about being all black, but the MetalGreymon he made out of Agumon was a lot darker than usual, too. Do you think that's what's happening with this Dragomon?"

"I really don't think so." Veemon insisted. "My partner was convinced it wasn't a digimon at all."

"I still think Dragomon is probably the best clue we have." Kari said, much to the digimon's apparent chagrin. "Did she say anything else? Where exactly is the thing taking Kari in her dream? You said it was its world, but was it any more specific?"

"The beach." Veemon added. "She was on a beach with a black ocean."

"Sounds like she dreams of that color a lot." Yolie japed.

"Yeah, I've heard of beaches, but never black oceans." TK added.

"What if there's oil in the water?" Cody asked. "That could make the water look black, maybe even cover the digimon in the water too. Maybe that's why the Dragomon is discolored."

"That is true." Yolie said. "Is there anywhere in the digital world with off shore rigs?"

"There's telephone booths, RV's and robot factories there." TK observed. "Why not?

"I'm telling you, she's not in the digital world." The cat interjected before anyone could answer that. "She's… somewhere else."

"I'm sorry… Gatomon," Kari began "I'm afraid this is a much better lead."

The former dragon glared at her with a disgusted look in his eyes.

"Chase your bogus lead then!" he yelled. "I'm getting real help!"

He charged down the hallway before any of them could respond. Most of them gaped in confusion

"He doesn't trust me." The former girl thought, knowing the situation better. Veemon, it seemed, believed she would have no reason to look out for Davis after what he did. It made sense. It wasn't completely true, though. For one thing if Kari ever wanted her body back she couldn't have it lost in some alternate dimension. That as the main reason she wanted to save Davis right now. Even neglecting that, some part of her still wanted to save him, just for the sake of saving him. Veemon had underestimated her.

"Or has he overestimated me?" Kari did not know if that part of her was pure or stupid. Either way it was an issue for another time. Saving her own body came first.

She turned to her partner. "Do you know of any place in the digital world with oil rigs?"

"I'm afraid I don't." Gatomon replied.

"I don't either." Patamon interjected. "And I've known it a lot longer."

The conversation had been full of cruel ironies.

"Might one of the other chosen digimon know?" Upamon asked.

"Maybe?" Patamon answered. "They have been in the digital world while we've been staying here."

"I'll try to e-mail them." Yolie said typing away at her D-Terminal. "Crying shame, I haven't finished upgrading them yet…"

* * *

Jun:

"63, 49, 12"

Jun had not needed to exchange locks with Matt; she already knew his combination. As it had several times before, the locker opened, revealing her new books. They had been rearranged to allow the former girl a direct view to the locker's newest addition, it's mirror. She stared at her new reflection for several seconds.

"Perfect" she mouthed under her breath.

Her previous locker had a similar arrangement, albeit with a picture of her beloved in place of the mirror. Somehow, that didn't compare to seeing his face like this.

Once she was satisfied, Jun shifted to practical matters and began exchanging books. She only needed one more for the last period, and a couple to take home for Matt's homework. There were readings assigned for another book, but she did not need to read them; she had already done so the previous year.

That was the third major advantage she found to Matt's body; the first, of course, being the body itself. Going back a grade level alone would have made her academic career a lot easier. Add to that the loss of AP classes and she had instantly gone from an average student to the top of her class with less effort put in. Repeating so much material had been more than a bit boring, but it's not as though school wasn't boring before.

As she finished exchanging books, Jun got the feeling she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder as subtly as she could. Sure enough, there was a girl on the other side of the hallway, staring at her. The switched one turned around and waved at her, making as lovestruck an expression as she could muster. The other girl blushed profusely and then ran away.

Going out in public as Matt had been a much better experience than Jun had anticipated. That was the second big advantage to his life. The band hadn't practiced yet, though that was an upcoming treat Jun was looking forward to. It was just going out in general that was so amazing. Matt wasn't quite the celebrity Ichijochi was, but he had a decent amount of local fame. She had gotten a couple of looks just walking down the street. That pleased her. She had never had attention like that before.

The reaction was strongest at school; being around the band's target demographic helped a lot. Jun had gotten more than a few looks here, especially from the girls. Some of their looks she knew were how she used to look at Matt. She had no intention of returning their affections. She even if she were into girls she already had Matt now. She still relished it anyway.

She walked into her last class with a smile on her face.

Her mind wandered as the teacher gave another lecture on material she already knew. She decided to try her luck again with a text to Matt.

"Hey babe, Bio is still easy. The offer to tutor you in AP Chem still stands 3"

"Surely he'll respond this time!" she thought.

The lack of responses from Matt had been the one of few disappointments Jun had in her young marriage, and the only thing she did not understand about it. It didn't bother her at first; it felt like the bride hiding her face from the groom on the day of their wedding, but surely they were long past that now. Where was their honeymoon?

"He just needs more time." Jun told herself. "He's always been shy about us. A bit more nudging should do the trick."

She thought back over the days she had been in Matt's body. Even without responses from him it was plain these days had been the best of her life. It's not as though lack of responses from Matt were new to her, but everything else that had happened was like nothing she had ever experienced. So what if she had to take it bit slower than she'd liked? Things were going extremely well.

At that point the feeling of being watched returned to the former girl.

"Do we have a fan in this class we never noticed before?"

Her eyes darted about the classroom, but no one seemed to be focused on her this time. Everyone was either looking at the board or at some other distraction.

"Why do I have this feeling then?"

She tried to focus on the board herself but couldn't shake the emotion. She looked around a second time and once again did not notice anyone staring at her... no one in the classroom itself at least. Glancing out the window Jun saw a large white cat standing on the windowsill looking directly at her.

"A cat? Really?" She made eye contact with the animal. It instantly leaped from the windowsill and ran away.

"That was odd."

For the rest of the class Jun kept looking back and forth between the board and her phone, hoping to catch a response from Matt that never came. All the time she still retained the feeling of being observed, but she couldn't find anyone watching her, even the cat.

When the last bell rang Jun decided to see an old friend. She did not walk to the exit, or to her new locker, but to Monoe's. Yolie's sister was finishing up there as she arrived.

"Hey" the switched one said.

Monoe looked over at her and almost jumped back in shock.

"Ma.. Matt!" She stuttered. "Um, hi there."

Jun's best friend had been almost as much of a fan of the Teenage Wolves as she had been. Unlike the newlywed, however, she had never had the privilege of actually talking with a band member before. Jun had decided to fix that for her.

"What's up?" she asked.

They talked about several things as they left the school. It had started about the minutia of the day and of their lives. There were several things Monoe wanted to know about Matt, and her friend was happy to reveal them for her. She didn't have much new to offer this early in her marriage, but if nothing else Monoe seemed happy to hear old news confirmed fist hand. Of course, it was not long before the discussion turned to band matters.

"So, um, do you know when the next concert is?" She asked.

"Not yet." Jun said truthfully. "When we decide that you will be the first to know, however."

"Really?" her friend asked. "Why would you do that for me?"

Jun looked around in mock secrecy.

"You didn't hear it from me," she began "but I think Akira might have a bit of a crush on you."

Monoe gasped. In the same position Jun had placed the picture of Matt in her old locker, her friend had placed a picture of his band mate Akira in hers.

"Wha… why do you say that?" she asked.

"He's been talking quite a bit about you lately, about our mixer's sister anyway. I doubt he means Chizaru."

It was a complete lie. If Akira had said anything of the sort Jun would have no way to know about it. She wanted her friend to believe it, though.

"I think if you make a move you've got a good chance of scoring." Jun continued. "I saw how you looked at him that time you came to pick up Yolie. It looks to me like your feelings are mutual."

"Cou… could it really be?" Monoe almost whimpered.

"It is." her friend said. "Like I said, though, you didn't hear it from me. We can be a bit… shy at the Teenage Wolves. He might need a bit of nudging, but I'm confident he'll come around to you if you stay the course. I'll push for you on my end."

"I.. don't know what to say… I guess, thank you?"

"You're very welcome."

Jun did intend to put in the proverbial good word for her friend with her new bandmate. She was confident with two sources of nudging she could set Monoe up with him fairly easily. If that didn't work, there was always the nuclear option. If she had needed to, she could always arrange another marriage.

"Of course, I have a higher priority on that front." She thought. "Don't worry Matt. I'll make your dream come true!"

At that point they arrived at Monoe's apartment complex.

"Thanks for taking me here, Matt." She said. "And for everything. I still don't know how to thank you."

"You already did." Jun replied. "Don't worry about it."

They parted ways after that, Jun heading back to her own new home. She felt good about how that went.

As she progressed, however, the feeling of being watched returned. She looked behind her. There is was again, that same white cat.

"Are you following me?" She asked it.

The cat seemed to look around. Following its gaze, Jun saw several other people on the street.

Once again, the cat bolted from her.

This is really weird…

She continued home. She could feel the animal watching her as she did, but she could not locate it.

"Hey dad, I'm home!' She said finally reaching her new apartment.

"Hey Matt." Mr Ishaida said returning the greeting. They exchanged some small talk of their own and then Jun went up to her new room.

Stepping in the door Jun was greeted by the full body mirror she had gotten for the room. It was like the locker mirror, only a million times better. She stared at herself for several moments.

Eventually her stare was interrupted by a tapping coming from her window. The newlywed looked over and saw… that cat there again.

"What do you want from me!?" She yelled.

She expected the cat to run away like it always did, but what it did instead was the most shocking thing she could have imagined.

"I need your help." The cat replied.

Jun felt her face contort in horror.

"Wha… you can talk!"

"Yeah, I can talk." It responded. "Could you let me in?"

She was going insane. That had to be what was happening.

"You can't talk you're a cat!" Was all she managed to say.

"I'm not a cat, not technically" The apparently not cat replied. "I'm a digimon."

"Di.. digimon?"

Davis had told her about those creatures. If she had not seen them herself four years ago she would never have believed they existed. A part of her still didn't. Her captivity under them had been years back and she'd been trying to think of it as little as possible, almost to forget it. Now she was getting a grim reminder.

"Go away!" She yelled. "You won't take me again. I... I'll fight you!"

Jun almost felt like she could fight the beast now. The difference in strength between her new body and her old was the fourth good thing she noticed about it. She didn't think she really would, however. Almost every part of her mind was screaming "Run!"

"I don't want to fight you." The monster said. "I need your help. Davis needs your help!"

"Da.. Davis?" Jun stuttered "What are you doing with him!?"

Knowing the creature had taken Davis, her mind shifted from flight to fight. She would engage it now. The new boy stepped toward the window.

"I'm trying to save him!" It interjected. "He disappeared. I don't know how but he just did, literally, right in front of my eyes."

Jun stopped her advance. "What are you talking about?" She demanded. "Who are you?"

"My name is Veemon." The monster said. "Davis said he told you about me. I'm his partner. I… I need help. Please, help me save him!"

"You're lying!" Jun spat. "Davis said his partner was a blue dragon."

"That's me… or at least it was me. I used the rings with him. This is my new body. It's called "Gatomon" by the way; she was Kari's partner."

The former dragon sighed.

"Look Jun, you were the only one I could find at the high school. I need your help. Davis needs your help. You have to trust me."

Could she do that? Jun stared at the creature for several moments. Was what it said true? If it was, the former girl knew she had to trust the beast, whether she wanted to or not. She reached into her pocket and pulled out Matt's phone. She dialed Kari's number… no response.

"Couldn't he just be away from his phone now?" part of her asked. It seemed unlikely given how much he'd wanted one in his old body… Either way it didn't matter. Jun did not think she could take the chance.

She stepped up to the window and opened it.

"Tell me what happened."

The possessed cat went on to tell her about its partner waking up screaming in the nights before now and recanted descriptions of some horrible tentacled monster abducting her brother in his dreams. It told her about watching Davis literally vanish into thin air, and about failed attempts to get his friends to help him in a meaningful way.

"They're convinced it's a digimon, but I know it isn't" It said. "Davis knew it wasn't."

Jun would not have been surprised if this thing that had taken him truly were a digimon, despite these assertions to the contrary. She kind of suspected it in fact. She didn't let that on, though.

"Please, you have to help me." The other digimon repeated. "I don't know where else to go. Davis told me you were really smart. Surely you have an idea!"

Jun thought about it.

"I don't know much about you digimon, let alone even weirder monsters." She finally said. "I do know someone who does, though. He might be able to help."

"That's wonderful!" Veemon exclaimed. "Who is that?"

"Ken Ichijochi." Jun answered.

Gatomon's borrowed face quickly changed expression from excitement to terror.

"Bu… but he's the Digimon Emperor!" It whimpered. "He enslaves digimon! We... we can't go to him."

"We don't have any other choice." The former girl said in counter. "I don't know anyone else who can help."

In her mind she added "Not to mention, if he really does dominate you monsters, he's the best one to help anyway." She knew better than to say that out loud too.

"Is this really what this is coming to?" Veemon whined. "Alright, if there's really no other option, I'll do it. I'll go with you when we see Ken. Can I just ask for one thing?"

"We?" The human thought.

"What would that be?"

"Can I hide in your bookbag while you talk to him?" It asked. "I… I don't want him to enslave me."

"Absolutely not!" Jun yelled in reply. "What makes you think I'm even taking you to begin with?"

"Look, I'm trying to save Davis as much as you are." It answered. "If you can't appreciate that, at least acknowledge you need my help too. You say you can fight me, but what are you going to do if you have to fight against that giant monster Davis described?"

That… was a better argument than she had been expecting. The former girl glanced at that the bookbag, then back at Veemon. The thought of carrying the monster on her back horrified her, but more she thought about it, far more did the abomination it had described.

She opened up the bag. "Get in."

The possessed cat complied. Jun started to seal it up, but before she finished, it decided to add another demand.

"One more thing, can I borrow that ring on your finger?"

"Excuse me!" the newlywed yelled back. "I'm not giving you my wedding ring, never!"

Jun had not taken off the ring since she arrived in this body, not even to bathe.

"I need it to fight." The creature said. "If I don't have a ring like that on my tail I fight… at a much weaker level: better than a real cat, probably better than you can, but still not enough. With that ring I'll be many times stronger."

"That's insane!" Jun countered. "I'm not giving you my ring. Can't you just use some ring pop from a vending machine?"

"No, I tried that." The monster answered. "It has to be a ring like that, a switching ring. It doesn't work otherwise."

"I'm still not giving it you. You'll have to fight without it."

"That thing will crush us if I do." The thing that resembled a cat argued. "I've never been able to beat anything of its level without armor digivolving. If we meet that thing before we run into Davis it is going to flatten us unless I'm at my fullest. Having that ring is the same as being digivolved for me."

Jun did not understand half of what she just heard.

"Please," Veemon continued "I'll give it back, I just need it for this encounter. Don't do it for me; do it for your brother."

Jun sighed. She looked at the ring on her finger and though of Matt. Then she thought of Davis.

"Let Ken handle it." Part of her said. "He can just mind control the digimon and we'll be on our way without this thing's help."

Another part of her countered "But what if he's right and it's not really a digimon?"

The two of them stood silently for several seconds.

"All right," Jun finally said sliding off the ring. She slid it on Veemon's tail. "you will return it to me the second we find Davis."

It nodded in agreement. "Thanks"

Jun did not reply as she closed the bag. She left for Tamashi as fast as she could...

Arriving at Ken's apartment she banged on the door.

"Ken open up! I need to see you now!" She yelled.

The door opened, revealing the young emperor.

"I take it you're Jun or Davis." he answered "Which one?"

"I'm Jun," she replied. "I need your help!"

"Do you want another pair of rings? I can get you one for some intelligence, as we agreed."

"I actually do want another set, but that's not why I'm here. Davis disappeared! I need you to help me find him."

"Why should I do that?" Ken asked. "Are you offering me intelligence for my help there instead?"

"Why should you do that? You'd better do it! You're not getting any intelligence if your spy is gone."

"That is a good counter" the emperor replied. "Not quite good enough, though. I still don't have any evidence besides your word I'll actually get anything out of him."

Jun was about to explode on him, but he continued before that happened.

"How about this compromise: buy two rings, get help for free. I'll give you the rings and help your brother, but I want some intel now as an ante."

Jun did not bother thinking up a lie. She didn't think she understood the digidestined or their mission well enough to make a convincing untruth, and time was off the essence.

"The other digidestined are looking for off shore oil rigs to go to in the digital world." She remembered that from Veemon's explanation. "They'll be searching one for Davis."

She could feel the cat beast writhing in her bookbag as she said that.

Ken seemed not to notice. "That works." He said smiling. Stepping aside he continued, "Come on in and tell me what happened. I'll see what I can do to help. My parents are not home as of now, so they will not bother us."

Jun went inside. She told her host about the dreams Davis had been having.

"I don't know if that thing is a digimon or not, but he swears it isn't." she went on. "Whatever it was, Veemon is convinced it took Davis to its world. Do you have any idea what it is?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Ken answered. "If I am interpreting this description correctly, the thing that took you brother is indeed not a digimon… not exactly."

"Not exactly? What does that mean?"

"It is like unto a digimon." Her host explained. "Like enough to be influenced by my dark spiral but, it seems, not quite fully. Your brother was correct, the monster he describes does not reside in the digital world, though, to a certain extent, it does."

"That doesn't make sense." Jun said. "Can you explain it better?"

Ken obliged her. "This other world, it would not be to the Digital World what Mars is to Venus. It would be what the moon is to the Earth, separate from the Digital World, but still a part of it, in its own way. It's not a double world like, say, Pluto and Charon; their relationship is too unequal for that, but it is there. The two share the same orbit, so to speak, apart from each other but inexorably linked in ways few are."

That… kind of made sense…

"That's enough technobabble." Jun finally said. "Can you help him there?"

"I believe I can." Her host replied. "Follow me." He led her to his computer and pulled... apparently a black digivice out of his pocket and held it up to the screen. An image Jun did not recognize appeared on it.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked.

Jun shook her head.

"This is a portal to the Digital World. It is what I use to go there. All you need to use it is your digivice."

"I don't have a digivice," the former girl replied.

"You do actually." He pointed at her side. "It's right there hanging off your backpack."

Jun grabbed at where Ken was pointing. She felt in her hands the strange decoration that had been hanging in a sling from Matt's bookbag.

"That's a digivice?" She asked. "Davis showed me his, and it didn't look like that at all."

"Matt's brand of digivice is an older model from what we younger kids have." The emperor replied. "The newer model has some extra features, most relevantly the ability to open portals rather than having to wait on them to open naturally. My dark digivice takes this ability a step further. It can open portals not only to the digital world, but also this other world connected to it, to the Dark Ocean. That is where you will find your brother."

He held his digivice to the computer screen again. "Dark port open!" He yelled.

The image that filled the screen was a very good match for the secondhand description of her brother's dream: the beach of a black ocean with a black sky. It seemed at first glance like a typical nighttime seascape, but, somehow, it was eerie in way she had never quite known.

"Davis should be just beyond this portal." Ken said. "Just hold your digivice up to the screen to use it."

"Are you coming with me?" The former girl asked.

"I could, but I won't." Ken said. "I will be exploiting that intelligence you gave me at the door while you go."

"That's not very helpful of you." Jun complained.

"If what you're saying is true and the denizens of this world are beyond my control, I won't be of much help anyway." He responded. "Look on the bright side! I'll be sure to have your new rings ready when you get back."

"You'd better." Jun said. She took Matt's digivice from the sling and held it to the computer. She had more complaints to make to her host, but she never got the chance to make them. Before she could speak again she found herself being pulled into the computer screen. It was like nothing she ever experienced. Her body stretched and contorted it's way into the portal and then she was in transit in her spaghettified state. See could not see anything inside the portal. It was completely dark. It was also the coldest she'd ever remembered it feeling. She screamed but no sound left her mouth.

Then it was over. She found herself on the shore of the same black ocean she had seen on the screen. It was still dark and cold but seemingly not as much so. If nothing else her body was back the way it should be.

"I'm still not looking forward to the return trip" She thought. "Then again I don't know how long I want to stay in this place either."

She turned around. Behind her was a hill with what looked like an extremely old tv, maybe a Farnsworth model, sticking out of it. Jun figured that was where she had emerged from. Looking up she saw the hill reach up to a plateau. In the distance she could see... was that a lighthouse with black light?

Before she could make sense of it a call came from her bookbag.

"Um, we are there now, right? No emperors around to make me their slave?"

She took of her bookbag and released Veemon from it. "Yeah." Was all she said.

Seeing the monster again was less than pleasant. It was nice to have it off of her back again, though.

There was only one way to search. They marched up the hill and to the plateau on top. There they saw the cliff edge on the other side of the plateau curving around, the strange lighthouse at the far end of the cliff.

"Is that black light?" The possessed cat asked.

"That is what it looks like." She said. "Good to think it least knows that is abnormal" she thought.

As if to defy her the digimon began walking toward it.

"Where are you going?" Jun yelled. "We're looking for Davis."

"I know" Veemon replied "But right now our options are 'Climb down a cliff or investigate an ominous thing while looking for a kidnapper.' I think the latter makes more sense, don't you?"

It had her there. She followed the monster up to the strange light house.

As they approached the building, however, the sound of an explosion came from over the cliff. Turing that way Jun saw the scariest thing she had seen in four years. A serpentine dragon was flying inland from the sea, and was shooting its breath the cliff wall.

As if to escape its fire, a small troop of digimon came out from a cave in the wall, and among them was… Davis! The dragon shot another fireball at them that they barely dodged.

"You!" Jun yelled, turning back to Veemon. "You said you could fight. Kill that thing!"

The cat nodded, but instead of turning to engage the dragon it keep running toward the light house.

"What are you doing?"

It did not respond to her. It only shouted "Lightning Paw!" as it ran into the building.

It looked as if the lighthouse dissolved when Veemon's paw hit it, revealing a strange black tower formally hidden within it.

"I knew it!" Veemon said. He then repeated "Lightning Paw!" This time the new building shattered, leaving nothing behind.

"Why are you not..." Jun began to chastise the beast for its distraction, but before she could finish doing so, the sky opened up and the pink light came from the opening, filling the area. The last thing she saw before the light blinded her to everything else was her brother looking up toward the opening, toward the source of the strange light.

* * *

Davis:

Davis was standing in the middle of a desert. Above him the sun took up most of the sky. It was the hottest and brightest he ever remembered, but somehow, he was comfortable in it. He looked up, directly into the sun, and there was no pain in his eyes as he did.

Floating high above him, seemingly within the sun itself, there was a young angel. It looked back at the digidestined.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Then the light faded and Davis was back in the Dark Ocean surrounded by the Scubamon he had hid with. There was still an angel above him, though not the boy he had seen in the sun, but a woman he had never met before. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

The former boy's attention was drawn to Airdramon's roar. Looking over toward it he saw the dragon slave sharing the sky with the beautiful angel. It did not for long, however.

"Heaven's Charm!" She said, and an arc of pink light shot from her hands and once it hit the dragon disintegrated.

"I... thank you!" He yelled up at his savior. "Who are you?"

She yelled back. "It's me, Veemon!"

"Veemon!?" He repeated. "Looking good!"

His partner smiled. "I know right."

TK had told him about "Angewomon" not long before he had gotten the rings. Back then the goggleboy was upset Kari had so similar a potential partner to his rival's Angemon. After he became Kari he began to get upset about his own potential partner being so similar to TK's. Now... now that he was seeing her like this in his hour of need...

"She's majestic." He thought.

"You're okay right?" another voice came "The monsters didn't hurt you, did they?"

The former gogglehead looked down a bit and saw Matt's old body standing on the top of the cliff.

"Jun?" He continued. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your hide, that's what!" She responded. "Now get up here so we can leave this horrible place!"

"Um, that's kind of a problem." the former boy did not think he could scale that cliff in his old body, let alone his new one.

"Don't worry," Veemon said happily "I'll give you a lift." He floated down to the beach and extended a hand.

"One thing real quick," Davis said. He pointed to the Scubamon. "Could you break those dark spirals?"

"Of course!" Beams of pink light shot out again and struck the dark spirals, shattering them to pieces.

"It's over now guys, you're fr-" before he could finish the word the "Scubamon" began to transform. No longer were they digimon, but monsters like he had seen in his hallucination. He could hear Jun screaming from atop the cliff.

"You have driven the forces of the digimon emperor from out domain, sweet Kari," one of them... said? It did not move its mouth; it no longer had a mouth in fact, and the sound did not seem to come directly from it. "Now you can marry our master and become our queen."

"Wha... what?" Davis stuttered.

The creature grabbed her by the arm "Our master wishes to be one with you." It continued. "Come with us, and accept him."

"Um, no thank you." The new girl answered.

"Our master will not be denied."

He heard a crash behind him.

Another of Veemon's beams struck the outstretched arm. It made no indication it was in pain, but it released the former boy and drew back. The troop began retreating, walking backwards into the ocean.

"We thought you would love to be our queen," the speaker said again. "but it looks like we were wrong. Beware child; our master knows your power too. He will come for you again."

Before he could find his wits the monsters were gone, lost beneath the sea.

He turned around toward Veemon.

"Partner... thank you." It was all he could say.

Facing that direction he saw Jun limping toward him.

"Davis!" She yelled. "Please tell me you're alright! What did they do to you!?"

"Nothing," her brother replied. "What happened to you?" It was not hard to see that his sister was in pain as she carried one arm in the other and dragged the matching leg behind her as she walked.

"I... I'm okay, really. I think the sand broke my fall." She turned to the angel. "Thank you for saving him from those things. Remind me not to jump off a cliff when you're here next time."

"Jump off a cliff?" Davis stuttered. He looked up and saw the where she had been standing before... "You jumped down here, why?"

"I couldn't let, those digimon take you."

"Those weren't digimon, you know." Veemon said, beating his partner to a response.

Jun turned toward him again, seemingly about to make some slide comeback, but she stopped herself, the words crumbling in her mouth.

"That is what Ken said, isn't it." She sighed. "I... I owe you an apology. You saved my brother! I shouldn't have distrusted you like I did. You... you aren't like those things from 4 years ago. You're not like any of them."

Somehow he did not look particularly impressed by that.

"Thank you for doing that for me." Davis said. He was impressed, even if his partner was not. "I... I'm sorry to say I would not have expected that of you."

"I had to do it, you're still my little brother, right?" She responded. "Besides, I'm a guy now. I'm supposed to save the distressed damsel, aren't I? It's like the prince in the stories"

Davis was not 100% certain she was serious about that, but he could see no indications that she wasn't.

"Those sound like they're, um," How had Izzy said it? "mutually exclusive, being my sibling and a prince." He said.

"Yeah, they are." Jun replied. "As much as I feel like a prince though you still want to be my sibling."

"I'm not sure what I want anymore." Davis answered. "I still feel like your sibling, but I suppose I'm not anymore... and as much as I hate it, I do feel like a damsel."

It was hard to deny that was what he was at this point.

He laughed unsure if it was bitter or genuine.

"Are you really gonna do it?" part of him asked... He was.

"You know, in those stories the damsel marries the prince after he saves her. I won't go that far, but..." the words almost crumbled in his mouth too, but he managed to spit them out "but I will go on that date you wanted."

"Wha.. really?" She said. "Thank you so much Davis! This is going to be awesome!"

He stopped her before she could continue "One date." he emphasized. "That's all I'm committing to."

That was what he told both Jun and the part of him still objecting.

"I need to support my prince, don't I?" He thought. That part of him began to yield to that, but another part of him voiced its own objection.

"But you're a guy!" it said. "You should be the prince."

"I will be when I have that body." He countered. That seemed to silence it.

"One date is fine. Matt is my husband, not you." The current prince said. "I wouldn't want to take things to seriously with you."

That was comforting.

"Though I probably will want more if he doesn't come around soon."

And that wasn't.

"Maybe." Was all the damsel said in reply. "I'm still only committing to one now."

"Fair enough"

"Um, guys," Veemon interjected. "We might not want to linger in this world to long. Can we go back to the gate."

Neither of the humans could disagree.

The digimon lifted them in his arms a flew them over the cliff and back down its other side, then then the humans down on the beach. A very old tv was sticking out of the hillside.

"Is that a digiport?" Davis asked. "I thought we weren't in the digital world."

"We aren't" Jun answered. "Apparently this place is... sort of like the digital world's moon."

"If that's true then it must be the dark side of the moon."

"Bah," she replied. "the moon doesn't have a 'dark side' just one that's farther away."

"With the digital world, you never know."

"Whatever," the prince replied. "Can we just leave it?"

The damsel did not object. He reached for his digivice, and… crap…

Jun pulled out Matt's digivice. "What are you waiting for, let's go?"

"Umm… we may have a problem. I… think my digivice is in my bookbag… which is back on Earth."

"What?"

"I… don't think I can use that portal."

To be thwarted by something so simple…

"This is really not good."

"What about that portal?" Veemon asked, pointing up.

The humans looked up. The opening that had formed in the sky when the control spire was destroyed was still there.

"What are you talking about?" Jun asked. "That's just a big pink light."

"No," the angel said. "Look harder."

Davis stared into the light, sure enough, he saw in it the beach by the school."

"Ow!" Jun yelled. She covered her eyes and looked away.

"Looks good to me, partner." the former gogglehead said. "Let's go."

Veemon grabbed both of them and started flying up toward the portal.

"What are you doing!?" Jun screamed. Their carrier ignored her.

As they passed though the opening, the light enveloped everything they could see. I felt warm and pleasant.

Then the light faded, and they were flying over the sea, a real blue sea. Tokyo was easily visible on the shore. Veemon landed there, on a secluded hill, and let them down.

"That… that burned! That was horrible!" Jun whined. "It was as bad as the trip there!"

"Really?" Veemon asked. "The trip there was horrible, but that felt kind of nice."

"Nice! Are you insane? It was like walking through fire!"

She did not look like she had walked though fire.

"It felt nice to me too." Davis said. "I don't know about the trip there… One second I was here then I was in the Dark Ocean… though I guess I didn't travel though a portal then at all."

"You guys are freaks!" She bawked. "Whatever! Just give me back my wedding ring!"

Veemon nodded, and in a second he was back to his Gatomon form. He held his tail up, and Jun pulled off… her blue gemmed ring? She slid it back on her finger eagerly.

Davis was visibly confused by that exchange.

"I'll explain it later." Jun said, seeing that. She looked around a bit, seemingly gathering her bearings, then began walking off.

"Where are you going?" Davis asked.

"Back to Ken's to get our rings." The prince replied. "We'll need them for out date."

"Back to Ken's?"

"I..." Veemon began "I'll go ahead an explain it now."

* * *

TK:

"Kari!" TK shouted.

"Kari!" Patamon repeated. "Where are you!?"

Noone else was on the beach to answer them.

Try as they might, the digidestined had not been able to open a digiport on their own, but somehow, right when they were staring to talk about giving up, a portal opened for them. Tentomon was able to confirm it lead to an area with an off-shore oil rig. He was also able to confirm the area was under the control of the Digimon Emperor. It seemed very convenient. Cody had suggested it might be a trap and Yolie agreed. Davis said that didn't matter; they'd freed conquered areas many times before, and this time they had to do it to rescue Kari. It was hard to argue with, yet somehow TK had wanted to find a reason to argue with it. Some part of him didn't want to take the risk… not for her. The thought of that disgusted him.

"She's my friend." He told himself. "I have to take the risk. She'd do it for me, right?"

And yet, after what had happened this past week, TK almost got the impression she wouldn't. It was blasphemous. He knew her better than that, but somehow, he couldn't shake the thought. He had seen a side to his friend he had never known was there, a violent vengeful side that seemed to hate him. Seeing it had made the assaulted boy more disappointed, more betrayed than he ever remembered feeling, almost to the point of depression.

"Why is this bothering me so much?" He asked himself, not for the first time; he had endured similar behavior before without issue. Nothing Kari had done recently would be out of character for Davis, and he had blown off his insults more than once. Heck, he'd endured far worse. Human meanness seemed pretty insignificant thinking back to the digimon that had straight-up tried to kill him. Even that hadn't bothered him... not to this extent at least. Attacks against Patamon had been far, far harder to handle.

"And yet..."

It didn't matter. Like it or not Kari was still his friend and a member of the digidestined. He owned it to her and to the digital world. Bad as this week was, he couldn't let it ruin years of friendship. He had to risk his life to save her, like he would for any member of the team, even Davis. Intellectually he new even his rival would do that for him.

And nowadays it was seeming easier and easier to return the favor.

Before he could could ponder that further however, the ground gave way beneath him.

"TK!" Patamon cried out.

The fall was light, sand seeming to break the impact. Looking around, the Christian found himself at the bottom of a sink hole, about two or three of his heights deep.

"Are you alright?" His partner called.

"I'm fine." He responded. He tried to climb up but sandy wall fell down under his weight.

"Hang on! I'll go get help." Patamon said flying away. The digimon had tried to carry him in flight before 4 years ago, and it hadn't worked then. Trying it now would have been idiotic.

TK sighed and sat down. He'd have to wait for his partner's return. Unable to do much else, his thoughts returned to the situation with Kari.

"This should not bother me so much." He thought once again.

It was the betrayal of it, he decided after some reflection. He expected to clash with Davis. Of course doing the same with his life-long friend would have a greater impact.

"TK!" a familiar voice called out... Davis's in fact.

"Speak of the devil." TK thought. "Hey!" He called out himself.

The gogglehead's face peered over the edge of the hole. "You okay down there?" He asked.

"I'm fine," his rival answered. "Can you help me up?"

Veemon threw a vine into the hole. "Grab this!" He said.

TK did, and with the digimon's help he was quickly on the surface again.

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

Davis pulled a water bottle out of his back pack and held it out toward him. "You want some?" He asked.

"I've got my own, thank you though."

He really meant it. Helping him out of the hole was a necessary part of their digidestined duties. That offer was a step beyond, and one the gogglehead had never taken for him before.

While he had brought water, the growl of his stomach quickly reminded him he had not brought food. Usually the digidestined went to the digital world knowing they had to be home by dinner time anyway, to keep the new kids' parents in the dark about where they went. The extended search for Kari had not been an exception that TK had prepared for.

The leader seemed to hear the growl and started taking bento out of his bag as well.

"Sounds like you didn't bring food, though." He said. "I brought some extra you can have if you want. Ga... erm, Veemon and I also found some fruit while we were looking for that vine we used to get you out. He says it's safe to eat."

That was several steps beyond what Davis normally did.

"That I will have to accept," TK said, impressed. "That... did you do that before? It's really thoughtful."

"I didn't" he responded. "It just had the idea recently. I figured it would make me a better leader if I were prepared for emergencies. I don't think I can carry enough for everyone, but for just the four of us, this should be fine."

"That sounds good to me." The blonde answered. He bit into one of the fruits. "Tastes good too!"

The boys and their digimon sat down their and ate. As they ate TK began to appreciate his leader in ways he never had before. The sun began to set over the sea and as the boy took it all in, it almost felt... romantic.

"Wait... what?"

He looked over at Davis. He could not deny it. That is absolutely what this felt like. He was...

"Oh God."

That atmosphere instantly changed from one of romance to one of horror.

"You alright TK?" The source of his horror asked.

The Christian did not know how to answer. In a strange sort of way, the unfortunate distraction that came then was welcome.

"BOOOOOM!"

The explosion shook the ground beneath them. Turning toward its sound the boys saw a plume of smoke rising up from the inland jungle.

"That can not be good." The gogglehead stated. TK could not disagree. They and their partners began rushing toward the smoke. The blonde's adrenaline form earlier found new purpose.

They were not long into the jungle when they saw, through a hole in the canopy, a Halsemon-mounted Yolie race above them. A pair of Airdramon gave chase behind her.

"We have to help her." TK yelled. His partner nodded in agreement and began flying up toward the hole.

"Digiarmor ener-" The call to digivolution was interrupted by another cry from above the trees. "Poison Breath!"

Patamon fell from the sky, revealing a Bakemon who had seemingly lagged behind the earlier Airdramon.

"Patamon!" TK cried out, running to catch his partner as the Bakemon descended down on them through the hole.

"Digiarmor Energize!" This time it was Davis who called his partner to digivolution, and this time the call was not interrupted.

"Veemon armor digivolve to, Flamedramon the Fire of Courage!"

In a fiery burst the armor digimon leaped up at their attacker.

"Fire Rocket!"

He struck the ghost's dark ring, shattering it. The Bakemon was blown back and crashed into the ground, unconscious.

"I... thanks again Davis." It was the second time today the leader had saved him.

"Don't mention it." He replied. "We need to meet up with Yolie and Cody now! They were right; it was a trap, and we fell for it!"

Flamedramon pointed off in the direction Yolie and flown.

"They went that way." He said. "We need to go after them."

His partner nodded and then the dragon took off in that direction. The humans followed after him as quickly as they could, TK holding the injured Patamon in his arms.

"Gold Rush!"

Before long they came unto a clearing, in it Digmon was fighting a trio of Bakemon, Cody hiding behind him.

"Fire Rocket!"

Flamedramon's attack once more destroyed a dark ring. With two armor digimon on either side of them, the other slaves were quickly overtaken as well, their dark rings shattered.

"Cody, are you alright?" Davis pleaded.

"I... I'm fine, but we need to get out of here now!"

"Couldn't agree more."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." A feminine voice said.

The boys turned in the direction of the sound, and standing there, in the direction of the portal, was a fox-like digimon with a dark spiral.

"Is that an ultimate?" TK asked.

"Yes it is." Patamon answered "Doumon."

"That is my name." The kistune replied. "As I said, you are not allowed to leave this area. The Digimon Emperor forbids it."

"We're leaving and you can't stop us!" Flamedramon spat back. "Fire Rocket!"

"Talisman Spell!"

A force field formed around Doumon, the fire attack disappearing it touched the barrier.

"Rock Cracking!" Digmon yelled. He charged the barrier and tried to drill away, but the drills screeched to a sparking halt against it, unable to do damage.

"You'll have to do better than that."

"Try it together." Davis lead. Digmon stepped back and attacked at the same time as Flamedramon.

"Gold Rush!" "Fire Rocket!"

"We shall aid you." One of the newly freed Bakemon said. Three cries of "Poison Breath" came out from the ghosts, along with three bursts of noxious gas. They hit the barrier at the same time as the other attacks and exploded.

"Yes! That has to have her." TK boomed.

When the smoke cleared however the barrier was still firmly in place, the villain unharmed behind it.

"How quaint" She said.

"No way!" Cody interjected.

"Allow me to show you a real attack." Doumon said. "Thousand Spells!"

Talismans shot out from the fox's body and exploded as they stuck the digimon before her. In the one attack the Bakemon fell to the ground and the partner digimon regressed to their Rookie forms.

"Armadillomon!" Cody cried out. He and Davis ran to pick up their partners.

"All of you are coming with me." Doumon continued. "I'm sure you can see by now resistance is futile."

"Never!" One of the ghosts replied. "I would sooner die than be a slave again."

"That can be arranged." The fox said. "Talisman of Shadow!"

She drew a large brush and threw it at the Bakemon, impaling him with it. The former slave disintegrated instantly.

"As I said, all of you are coming with me."

"Tempest wing!"

A tornado formed around the force field. The group looked up and flying toward them was Yolie on Halsemon. One of the Airdramon was still trailing her, but in her arms was… a TV?

"Digiport open!" She yelled, and disappeared into the screen along with her partner. The TV kept its momentum and landed in front of them.

"Ingenious!" Cody exclaimed. "We couldn't get to the digiport, so Yolie brought it to us!"

With Halsemon gone, the tornado he created disappeared, revealing an unharmed Doumon beneath it. "I'm getting annoyed now." She said. The airdramon that had been chasing Yolie was now right above her.

The Bakemon rose up into the air. "Go quickly!" One of them said. "Go and defy the emperor another day. We shall cover you."

The humans did not need to be told twice. Davis, Cody and their partners were through the gate almost before TK could process the situation.

"Poison Breath!"

"Thousand Spells!"

The last thing TK saw before passing through the gate himself was the remaining ghosts disintegrating as well.

Then he was back in the computer lab, the new kids and their now in-training digimon gasping for breath before him. He looked back at the computer screen; the portal was closed, presumptively because the TV had been destroyed along with the Bakemon.

"Tha… that was horrifying." Cody whimpered.

The blonde could not disagree with him. It horrified him too, and, unlike the new digidestined, he had seen digimon die before. He knew the impression it must have on the young boy. Seeing Myotismon and the Dark Masters do that to friends of his had not boded well four years ago.

He looked over at Upamon. "At least his partner is safe." He thought.

Yolie turned toward Davis. "All of this is your fault." She growled. "We knew this was a trap and you walked us into it anyway. Those digimon died because of you!" The leader looked down in shame, unable to look her in the eye.

"It's okay." TK said defending him. "We had to do it to save Kari. Besides, those Bakemon are free now. They'll be reborn at Primary Village. The emperor can't hurt them anymore."

"What if the emperor takes Primary Village too?" Cody asked. "Can we stop him if we encounter that… fox again?"

"There's nothing fundamentally different about beating that Doumon than beating Metal Greymon; we just need new tactics to deal with the barrier." TK responded. "Big as the digital world is we might not encounter her again anyway."

"It would also really help if Kari were here." Yolie said.

None of them could deny it. She was the one who had defeated Metal Greymon, after-all.

Awkward silence followed for several moments. It was broken by a beeping from their D-Terminals. Another digidestined was trying to contact them. The blonde pulled his out and saw an e-mail… from Kari?

"Hey guys, don't worry about me. I escaped from the bad guys. Am heading home now."

Looking up, TK saw the others were reading that same e-mail.

Davis burst out laughing.

"Stop that!" Yolie shouted. "This isn't funny."

Somehow it was.

TK began laughing too.


	9. The Awkward Date

**Davis:**  

Davis stared, not for the first time, at Kari's body in the mirror. For once, he was not happy with what he saw.

"I look like a clown."

Kari had a makeup kit. The former boy had attempted to use it… to less than satisfying results.

"She doesn't need makeup anyway."

He just washed it all off.

Jun had suggested they dress up their own bodies before the date. "Who knows better than us what we'll like for it?" It sounded like a great idea… unfortunately, Davis hadn't counted on not knowing the first thing about how to beautify a female body.

"Maybe I can get Jun to show me later? She has to have questions about being a guy I can answer in return, right?"

It seemed like something he'd have to do if he was staying in this body for life.

He looked again at his unmade face.

"It doesn't matter now. Kari doesn't need make up. I don't need makeup. I'm good looking enough without it."

It wasn't as though his new body was completely unbeautified; he was wearing the best dress in Kari's old wardrobe, really nice shoes too. They weren't heels, but Kari didn't have any of those, and Davis knew he wouldn't be able to walk in them anyway. That had relieved him, but it was still kind of a disappointment.

"Don't worry about it." He told himself. "Heels and makeup or not, you're still dating Kari now. Isn't that a HUGE step up from before."

"I would be if weren't actually JUN you were dating." Part of him replied. With no good counterargument he decided to ignore it.

He stepped out of the bathroom. Veemon was there to greet him

"Looking good partner!' the new cat said. "Is that how you're going out?"

Veemon's approval made him feel better.

"I think so, thanks."

"I'm kind of jealous." The former dragon continued. "I wish I got to date Gatomon's body."

"Sorry bro." Davis replied. "For what it's worth, I've still got mixed feelings about this date right now."

"Because of switching into Matt's body?" his partner asked "I can see why becoming TK's brother would bother you.

"That's actually not the bad part. Well… it's not the worst part." He said. "I was kind of miffed about that at first, but end the end I decided that I didn't need to think of it that way. If marriage makes new families, shouldn't divorce unmake them?"

From the look on Veemon's face it was clear he didn't understand that. He decided to move on.

"The worst part isn't being Matt; it's dating Jun. She might be in Kari's body, but she's still… my sister."

His partner shrugged. "I don't know anything about brothers or sisters, to be honest. They're not something most digimon have. It sounds like literally not being related anymore ought to unmake sibling bonds a lot more than divorce, though."

"It should," Davis agreed "But somehow it's a lot harder for me to accept…"

Veemon was about to reply when Kari's phone started ringing. Taking it out Davis could see it was Matt's phone calling, in other words, Jun.

"Sorry buddy, I've got to take this." He answered the phone. "I take it this means you're ready?"

"I am." Jun replied. "The cab should be here any minute."

Matt had owned a car Jun could have used to pick her date up. Jun, however, had insisted on Matt's body picking her up, and neither of them trusted Davis to drive.

"Why couldn't the rings have left driving skills behind instead of languages?" He had reflected on this before. "Maybe I can convince Ken to upgrade them like that."

His next thought was "Don't kiss up to the Digimon Emperor more than you have to." It was hard to argue against.

"I guess I'll come pick you up then." He now said. "See you in a minute."

He pulled a gold "gemed" ring out, their latest from Ken, and slipped it on his finger...

Once again the scenery around Davis went black for a moment, and once again new scenery appeared as sight returned to him.

"This must be Matt's house." He said the words out loud. They did not sound like he remembered Matt's voice to sound, but they definitely didn't sound like Kari's either. Without question he was once again male.

The restored boy looked around. He had never seen Matt's room before, but this looked about what he'd have guessed it would look like. Not a lot different from Tai's or his own, albeit with a lot more CD's and a few musical instruments lying about. There was one thing out of place though, the large full body mirror looking almost exactly like the one Jun had in her old room. While it did seem weird in Matt's possession, it did confirm this was indeed his room. Davis could see the older boy's body reflected in the mirror… it kind of impressed him. Jun had clearly gotten Matt's body much more presentable than he had Kari's. The former gogglehead was a lot better dressed than he was just before, decked out in a full tuxedo. It also looked to him like Matt's face might have even been slightly made up.

"If Jun does have questions about being a guy, dressing up as one isn't one of them."

Davis kind of… admired his new reflection, in a way he never had a guy's image before. He wasn't sure what to think about that.

"You're here to date Kari's body not Matt's" He told himself. Thinking back to her reflection it wasn't hard to appreciate that. She was still more beautiful in his mind than Matt, even if not as much so as he would like. Still…

"Some time out of Kari's body will be good for me." That thought calmed several of his worries.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a car horn from outside.

"That must be the cab."

He stepped out of Matt's room; the hallway left only one logical guess which way the living-room was. Going there he saw two men talked in the doorway. He guessed the one inside was Matt's dad and the other the cab driver. The supposed father turned around.

"There's the lady killer." He said. "You sure you don't want any help paying for this? Last time you went to that restaurant you begged me for more allowance for months.

"I'm fine, thanks." Davis replied. Jun had explicitly told him not to accept help of that sort.

"It's not like it's my money anyway."

Mr. Ishiada stepped out of the way to allow his perceived son by. "Tell Jun I said hi." He said.

"Jun?" How does he know that's who I'm dating?" the former gogglehead thought. If he did he ought to have a very different reaction… "Wait, he probably just thinks I'm going out with her body." He could only imagine Jun would advertise she was married to Matt whenever she could, or, as his father would perceive it, "Matt" would announce he was dating "Jun."

"Um, will do."

He followed the driver to the cab.

When the cab arrived at his new house, Davis went up to the door to get his sist.. date! Jun was waiting at the door.

"What took you so long?" She said as he opened the door.

Before he could answer, Tai's voice came from behind her "Hey Matt, where's TK?"

Davis had been hoping Tai would not notice him leave for the date. It seemed that would no longer be possible. Even without a guy at the doorstep it wasn't hard to guess "Kari's" intent by her clothes.

"TK isn't here." The restored boy replied. "It's just me."

"What?" Tai asked turing toward Jun. "You're dating Matt? I thought you liked TK."

"Way to add insult to injury" Davis thought.

"I would settle for TK." Jun said "But there's not guy on Earth I'd rather date than Mattikens." It seemed to be 100% honest, not a stretch of the truth at all.

Even though it was the first time Davis had been referred to by that pet name, he was already beginning to see why it annoyed Matt.

"I'm going to have to play along with that when I get Kari's body back aren't I?" Was this next thought.

"Eh, it was pretty close to what I would have BSed anyway..." No part of this train of thought pleased him.

"I… um," Tai stuttered "I did not not see that coming. Um, have fun I guess?"

"Will do big brother." Jun said cutely. She grabbed her date's hand. "You ready to go?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"That wasn't very romantic" She pouted.

Davis ignored that and began walking her toward the cab. Glancing back at the doorway he saw Tai bring his fingers to his eyes. "I'm watching you." He signed.

"I guess old rivalries die harder than we thought."

The former gogglehead sighed. His idol's suspicions were jarring after so much positive attention from him. He glanced back at his date, at the body he was already missing.

"Hopefully I can avoid Tai until we switch back." Davis thought, the cruel irony not missed on him. "At least then, it will be Jun's problem, not mine."

They sat down in the cab.

"Morilali's please." Jun said to the driver.

They departed.

As they drove toward the restaurant, they keep exchanging looks. It was the second time tonight Davis was disappointed by "Kari's" appearance.

"It's the opposite of what happened as DemiVeemon."

Being significantly smaller than Kari during his first swap had made her seem much prettier, much more mature. Now being significantly larger instead was having the reverse effect.

And that was before he remembered who was in that body and things got even worse in his mind.

"Why did I agree to this again?"

* * *

**Jun:**

Jun stared at her date. It was her first time seeing Matt's body from any such an angle… it was already a bit of a disappointment. As she had expected, the larger relative size made Matt's body seem more manly… but somehow the gain from that seemed overshadowed by a similar loss of his bishounen charm. That wasn't the worst part, though.

"Why am I so much shorter than Davis!?" Part of her screamed "I am the older sibling here. This is humiliating!"

"We're NOT siblings." The rest of Jun roared back internally. It still made her a bit uncomfortable.

"It's only temporary." That did not completely remove the discomfort, but it did improve the situation. Now she was able to appreciate the new perspective of Matt's body more for what it was. Bara had its own appeal as well… of course this fell short of that too...

"Be back in two hours." The driver said, letting them off at the restaurant.

Entering, they were quickly shown to their table.

"Have a seat here, sir and madam." The waiter said. "I will back here shortly with menus and appetizers."

"Dang," Davis said shortly there after, "When you told me this place was fancy you weren't kidding."

"I never kid." Jun responded. "Besides, I could have nothing less for a date with Matt. You get to have it with Kari now too. You're welcome."

"Eh… I'd have just taken her to a KFC." He responded. "It's romantic enough and it's cheaper."

Jun stuttered for several seconds before she could articulate a response. "I… what? What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm just practical."

All Jun could think of now was Matt taking her to a KFC for a date and calling it "practical."

"I need to change the subject."

Luckily for her the waiter returned then with their menus.

"Thank you sir." Jun said, seizing the opportunity. She didn't need to review the menu to decide.

"I'll have the shrimp scampi" It was the same meal she had eaten on her date here with the real Matt. Anything to hearken back to that was appreciated.

Davis took a bit much longer to decide, seemingly looking over every page. After reaching the end, he finally said "Can I just have a hamburger and fries?"

He very obviously had different ideas on how this should go than she did.

"Right away, sir and madam." The waiter took their menus and left.

Awkward silence followed for several minutes after that.

"What's up with this gem?" Davis eventually asked. His hand was on the blue gem of her wedding ring with Matt. "It won't turn anymore."

"Exactly." Jun replied as a matter-or-fact. "I super-glued it into that position."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I can't afford to accidentally nudge it the other way while I sleep and let a switch happen. What if I woke up in my old body?"

"Huh, that actually is clever." Davis complemented. "Maybe I'll do that with Veemon's ring before I paint it… hmm, need to remember to do that..."

"Veemon's ring? Why not yours?" Jun asked. "Ken gave them to you, didn't he?"

"Eh, he has more use for it that I do. He's the one who gets powered up by wearing it."

"Aren't you sad to give up your wedding ring, though?"

Jun had never seen Davis wear his ring in Kari's body like she had hers in Matt's. She had just assumed a kid his age was more reluctant to advertise his marriage. Was this the real reason?

The boy rolled his eyes. His words seemed sincere though.

"Veemon has his marriage too, you know. He had a huge crush on Gatomon before this happened, at least as big as mine on Kari. Shouldn't he get to display it?"

Somehow even the romantic one would never have guessed the digimon had a crush. The thought of his kind loving seemed… alien to her.

"I guess they have to reproduce somehow, don't they?" She thought.

Somehow the former dragon seemed almost congenial to her now.

"I guess he does." She said. "Good for him."

Either way, it was a convenient transition to what she wanted to talked about next.

"Speaking of the rings," she began "what were you planing to do with your new one?"

"Um… I honestly hadn't thought much of it." Davis said. He looked down at it on his other hand. "Switch back with you tomorrow?"

"Well yes, but what about after that?"

"No plans?"

"Great! can I have it then?"

"You want both rings?" Davis asked. "What for?"

Jun avoided answering the question.

"Does it matter?" She asked. "If you let Veemon have his own, my not me?"

"You already have one." He replied, touching the blue gemed ring again.

"I mean… a pair of them." The restored girl answered. "You can get a set any time by just BSing Ken. I can't do that."

"Honestly, I still kind of want to avoid doing that." Davis replied. "I don't want to give him information that could hurt the digital world."

"That's why you give him false information."

"You mean like you did last time?"

It appeared the white cat had let itself out of the bag in more ways than one...

"I did that to save your life." Jun said. "Would you rather me have not?"

The restored boy was silent for a moment.

"Sir and madam, I have your orders." The waiter said returning.

"Thank you very much." Jun responded and he put them on the table.

"There's no dipping sauce for my fries." Davis complained. "Could I get some ketchup?"

"I will be back with some momentarily." The waiter said. He did not wait for the return to begin eating them, however, instead taking the bun off of his burger and sliding a fry through the cheese and sauce on the patty.

Jun was disgusted. "This… this is not like dating Matt was."

"It's only temporary." Part of her still said. "Just until the real Matt comes around."

"How about this?" Davis eventually said. "I'll let you have this pair of rings, but I need you to go to the digital world for me as Kari."

"What!" Jun spat. "You want me to go there… to where the digimon are?"

"I keep telling you they aren't all evil. It's not my fault if you don't believe me." Davis said. "I have a duty to protect them, and can't do that as well without Kari's D3. As long as you have it, you need to use it like that."

The prospect terrified her.

"What about that horrible portal?" She whimpered.

"I promise you the school portal isn't like that. That was the Dark Ocean. I don't think any portal to the true digital world is like that." Davis answered "Besides, if we keep doing this, you'll have to anyway. Skipping one trip to the digital world tomorrow would have been one thing, but I couldn't do that all the time."

"I… I couldn't bare to keep going there." Jun whined.

"Honestly, I think it would be good for you." Her date responded. "I'll compromise again; go tomorrow and I'll give you this pair of rings, go next time we switch and I'll give you the next pair of rings, and so on. You only have to go as many times as you want rings."

It did seem fair to her. "Could I get a better deal anyway?" She did not think so.

"Alright," she finally, reluctantly said. "I'll go on your trip tomorrow."

"Thank you." Davis said. "I know this will be hard for you, but you and the digital world will be better off for it."

"You should be thanking me, brat! I'm doing your 'duty' for you," his date thought. She did not say it, though. She was dreading the next day like she hadn't in years.

"That just means I need to enjoy tonight all the more."

The waiter returned then with ketchup and Davis began eating normally. It helped greatly. Once again she could take in the more manly Matt she was dating while she ate her own meal.

And yet, it did not feel like a date with Matt. Even when Davis did not speak, when there was no way tell it was him in that body and not her real husband, it did not feel like eating with Matt like her last date had. It felt like she was eating with Davis, with her brother, like she had almost every day before the swap.

"Why is this not working!?" She whined internally.

She wouldn't admit it, but even as it was conceived in her head Jun was a bit uneasy with the idea of the date. She knew it had amazing potential, but she also knew this might happen. When Davis had turned her down at first it had been a relief as well as a disappointment… now… now disappointment was all she could get out of it, that and disgust, disgust with Davis yes… but also with herself.

"No! I can't let it end like this!' She thought. She had to salvage something out of this date.

They finished their meals at about the same time.

"So… do I just pay for this now?" Davis asked.

"You do." Jun said. "But first, there is one more one more thing you need to do to make this date complete."

She leaned forward toward him. Great as her date with the real Matt had been, it had one short coming. Matt had not been ready to let her kiss him like a real date should. She'd been waiting for that sacred first kiss with him before that, and then even more after. If Davis could provide that experience for her…

"Jun, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Shut up and kiss me." She replied. Surely contact with that body would let her forget you was in it… as long as he kept quiet.

She grabbed his head and pulled it toward her. She could tell Davis was not pleased, but he did not resist her.

"He wants this too." She decided. It pleased her. "He wants his first kiss with Kari, and I can provide it here."

They locked lips. For a split second, everything was perfect. The kiss of her dreams, of both their dreams, had finally come.

Then her mouth filled with vomit.

They both pulled away as the out of place meal Davis had just eaten came out his mouth. Half of it filled Jun's mouth, the other landed on the table as his reached away. The half meal in her mouth then came out to rejoin the other, along with the scampi Jun had eaten as it left her stomach.

"Jun… I… I'm sorry." Davis stuttered.

"Are you okay, sir and madam?" The waiter interjected, rushing back.

"Ugh," Jun gaped. "Just pay him while I wash up." She went of to the women's room while Davis handled him.

"That was… the most disgusting thing ever..."

Looking in the bathroom mirror she unsurprisingly saw Kari's reflection. It did surprise her how much she missed Matt's reflection already. Though, perhaps after that, it shouldn't have.

"It's like he left me." She thought. "And after that, he should have."

"I'm sorry Matt.' She said and cried for several minutes.

After calming down a bit she wiped the tears away. It seemed some of the vomit had found its way into Kari's dress, so she tried to wash it out as best she could.

Davis was at the door when she left the bathroom.

"I went ahead and called the cab back early." He said. "I don't want to stay here the full two hours."

"For once, I can't agree with you more." Jun replied.

"I.. don't want to do this again either." Her… brother continued.

"I don't want to talk about this again." She said. "Let's never do that."

"I agree." Davis replied.

There was one exception she had to make, though.

"I owe it to Matt after what I did to him tonight." She thought.

"I still want the new rings."

Davis sighed. "If you want them, come to Matt's place and get them tomorrow… After the trip to the digital world.

Jun sighed too. "If I'm never getting a chance like this again, I can't let this one slip away."

"A deal's a deal." She she whined.

* * *

**Matt:**

"Ms Motomiya," the teacher asked "How does one reverse derive a logarithm?"

Matt did not understand what the question even meant.

"I don't know." He said plainly.

The teacher almost looked shocked.

"We covered that the other day. Are you alright? This isn't like you."

"I'm... fine." He lied.

The teacher asked another student who answered correctly.

The musician had been an average student in his old body; in Jun's he was struggling. Yesterday he had a test in this class... he would be amazed if he even came remotely close to passing.

"Why do I care?" He had thought. "Jun can fail all her classes."

"You know why." Part of him had responded. "If you don't get you're body back you're stuck with the failure."

"I AM getting my body back." It was all he would allow himself to willingly think, even if he could not escape his unwilling doubts.

"That's the spirit!" Another part of him had added. "Screw with her reputation while you're at it. Let everyone know Jun as the freak she is!"

That was a step father than the former boy was willing to go. He wanted to do it, but he did not want to deal with the consequences while he was still in this body. If he knew exactly when he was getting his own back, he'd do it in the days before... but as it stood he didn't know when that would be... or if it would be.

He sighed.

The bell range shortly there after.

"One class down." He thought. "Six more to go..."

His next class was the only one he wasn't struggling in… not that it made him feel much better.

"Jun," the teacher eventually asked him "Which verbs use 'être' as their auxiliary as opposed to 'avoir'?"

"The Dr. Mrs. Vandertramp verbs," Matt answered "devonir, revenir, monter, rester, sortir, passer, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, arriver, mourir, and partir."

"Très Bein!"

Before, the only French Matt had know were the lyrics to that "Frère Jacques" song his grandpa made him sing. Now he could almost carry out a basic conversation. The only explanation he could think of was that the relevant knowledge had been left behind when Jun's mind left her body.

"That or I was French in a previous life and I'm starting to remember it."

Somehow the former seemed much more likely.

"Why couldn't the rest of her AP knowledge have been left behind too?"

On the one hand, it pleased him to have something he was seemingly still good at. On the other hand, that this was that thing kind of offended him.

"Did Jun learn this language because she found out I had a French grandpa, or did the Francophile fall for me in the first place because of him?"

It was small potatoes to stealing his body. Heck, it was small potatoes to blackmailing him into dating her, but it was a nice cherry on top of the proverbial sundae.

He was happy when that class was over too.

A familiar face greeted him him as he walked into his next class."

"Hey Jun!" Monoe said.

"Hey." Matt replied, taking his seat next to her.

Matt was barely acquainted with the girl he knew to be Yolie's sister before he became her best friend, but he had grown to appreciate her greatly since. He had come to his morning classes unprepared the first day, not knowing where Jun's locker was, let alone how to open it. He was sure Jun had tried to reveal as much to him the texts she'd sent since the switch. Quite a bit of practical advice seemed to be buried amid the ramblings about their supposed marriage. Unfortunately, Matt could not bare to sift through the former enough to find the latter for more than the first dozen texts or so. By now he had given up reading them. Luckily, her friend formed a nice alternative. Monoe's locker happened to be right next to Jun's. She had wanted to talk with him as they left this class that day, and he had walked with her there. All he then had to say was that he "forgot" his combination and she was happy to "remind" him.

"You look happy." Matt said to his new friend. "Anything good happen to you?"

"You won't believe it but, Matt came over and talked to me the other day!" She almost sang. "He told me Akira had a crush on me! He said he's help me get a date with him!"

That ramifications of that immediately dawned on him.

"They're at it again." He thought. "They're going to swap her with Akira."

It was the logical next step in what they were doing. Davis had let his sister steal her crush's body after he took his. Now Jun was giving her friend that same gift.

"Before long this is going to happen to the whole band!"

Would she do it? Monoe had seemed nice enough, but so had Davis. At this point he wasn't feeling very trusting.

"You, you wouldn't do that would you?" He asked. "Take, his body?"

"Well, not on the first date. That would be taking to pretty fast." Yolie's sister said. She chuckled. "Isn't four dates the rule?"

"Does she not know or is she playing coy?" Matt questioned internally. It didn't seem like she was lying… "If she did know it would be really dumb for her to tell me this..."

"You're sure it was Matt that said that, not… um, someone else." He asked.

"Um… yes?" Monoe answered. "I don't know who else it would have been."

"She doesn't know." Matt thought. "That or she's a better liar than any of the other body thieves." Still, not knowing and not be willing were totally different things.

"You wouldn't, erm, take him out if he didn't want to, would you?" He asked.

"Um, of course I wouldn't?" She replied. "Jun, are you alright? You're being really weird right now."

"I'm sorry." Matt said. "Please promise me one thing though, if Matt offers you a ring, no matter what he says, DO NOT accept it, and especially don't put it on."

"You're still being weird Jun." Monoe replied. "Do you want to talk about something else?"

"Yes actually," Matt said. "But first I need you to make that promise, please. Please, please, please, please."

The bespectacled girl stared at him for a moment.

"Alright." She finally said. "I promise I won't accept a ring from Matt or put one on."

"Thank you." The former boy replied. "Thank you very much."

The bell rang before they could say anything else and the teacher called for attention.

Matt could not focus on the lecture, even if he believed he would understand it. He kept thinking back to exchange he'd just had. Monoe's promise had been relieving, but it wasn't enough.

"She's going to do it again." He whined internally. "Even if it isn't Monoe she's going to help some other pervert steal someone else's life! I have to stop her. I have to confront her."

He knew it would be futile; he had know it from that start. Perverts like her just didn't listen to reason. With this much at stake, though, he had to try.

"I'll confront her on her way to my next class."

He stared at the clock. The minutes could not pass quickly enough. The teacher could not draw his attention away from it. Eventually, however, something else did.

"What, what is this?"

It was a pain he had never experienced before, coming from his lower body. He grabbed at his navel and realized the source of the pain was lower. His hand continued to slide down, and then suddenly, it was wet. Lifting up his hand he saw a dark spot forming on the crotch of his uniform.

"Oh my god!" He screamed in his head "Oh my god, no!"

It was clear he was having a period.

"Damn you Jun!"

"Jun, what's wrong?" The teacher called out.

"I… I…" he stuttered.

The girl next to him, on the opposite side as Monoe, looked over and then burst out laughing.

"Looks like someone forgot a tampon!" She chucked. The rest of the class then blurted out a mixture of their own laughter and "ew."

"Please go see the counselor." The teacher sighed.

* * *

**Jun:**

Jun was in a chapel in her old body, dressed up for her wedding. Matt was waiting for her at the altar, wearing his tuxedo. She walked down the aisle and took him in hand. Ken was in front of them dressed in a priest's robes.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" He asked.

"I do." Jun happily replied.

"And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Ken asked him.

"I do." Matt echoed.

"If anyone has any reason these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

No one objected.

Ken smiled. "Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Jun looked over to her new husband ready to embrace him, but instead of Matt standing there it was Davis.

"'Till death do us part." Her brother said. He then leaned forward to kiss her on the mouth.

"NOOO!"

"Ms Kamiya!"

Jun was in Kari's classroom, the teacher looking angrily at her.

She thought on her feet. "Um, no they aren't equal, because you didn't put in the absolute values." She recognized the trick on the board. "The square root of a number can be positive or negative. If it weren't, you could say all numbers were equal."

"Very good Hikari." The teacher replied. "Please be more subtle next time."

If going back a single grade level had made classes boring, going all the way back to middle school had made them unbearable. It was the first time Jun could remember falling asleep in class.

"At least it's almost over." She thought looking at the clock. "Of course, then I have another chore I need to do..."

To say Jun was not looking forward to her promised trip to the digital world was a very large understatement.

"It's for Matt." She told herself. "When I have those rings, I'll be able to help him like never before."

The last bell rang shortly after that. It was time. With dread in her heart Jun walked toward her old computer lab.

When she arrived there, she saw a girl she recognized as Monoe's sister. "Hey, erm, Yolie." She said.

"Hey Kari."

With the girl was... a digimon. It wasn't the worst thing she'd seen of their kind, but it was still a legless, headless bird with a face on its body. She decided to try to ignore it.

"Hey Kari." It said to her as well.

"Um... hey." She responded. Already things weren't going well.

It was then that something even creepier flew in the window.

"Hey guys." It said. Jun just stared at it, unable to respond.

"You okay, Kari?" It asked.

"She's fine Patamon." Veemon said, climbing in the window behind it. "She um... just saw a really scary movie last night. She might be a bit jumpy."

"Yeah," Jun finally said, taking the line. "That's it."

TK was the next to arrive. After him was a boy Jun had never seen before. He released from his bookbag a disembodied head. Jun had to restrain herself to not scream.

"You okay Kari?" The monster repeated.

Veemon stepped between them and repeated the same story as before. His current partner just nodded in agreement.

Kari was the last to arrive. She released what Jun knew to be the original Gatomon. She recognized the description Davis had given for DemiVeemon.

"Dragon isn't the first word I'd use to describe it." She thought. "Maybe weird anime lizard? I guess it isn't quite as scary as I would have expected..."

"Hey... DemiVeemon." Next to the head this thing was easy to look at.

"Hey... Kari." Jun got the impression it didn't really want to talk with her either. She didn't dwell on that and counted her blessings.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked the group.

Kari sighed. "As much as we'll ever be at this point." She held a digivice up to the computer as Jun had seen Ken do. "Digiport open!" Davis's body shrank and Kari was sucked into the screen along with her partner. Yolie and TK went next along with their digimon.

The small boy motioned for Jun to go through as well.

"Let's get this over with." She thought. She held up her digivice and found herself pulled into the screen as well.

Unlike the dark gate this trip seemed… almost peaceful? It didn't feel like a decent into hell, just like going through a door. For once, it seemed her brother was right. On the other side, she found herself in a forest.

Cody came through the portal right behind her. She saw in him the opposite of what she'd seen before, a person growing as they came out of the screen. Right behind him came... an armadillo? Jun stared at it for a second.

"Uh, Kari, you're kind of creeping me out." It said.

"Hey, you've been creeping me out this whole time; turnabout's fair play." is what Jun thought. She did not say it; it wasn't as true anymore anyway. Compared to what it had been before, the armadillo almost felt relieving now.

"Um, sorry." She said and turned away. Looking around she saw some of the other digimon had changed too. The bird with Yolie was also a lot less frightening, looking like a bird should. Veemon looked the same, but by now she had gotten used to him. She was feeling a bit better due to them.

On the other hand, Jun did not know what she thought about the form Gatomon had taken. It was... not as bizarre. "Veemon" was less of caricature than "DemiVeemon" had been, though she didn't know how to feel about a lizard standing upright. She did not even know if she'd still call it a lizard. "Dragon" was beginning to look a lot more accurate, though she wouldn't call it that either. It was.. Veemon... and it was still hard to look at it. The last digimon in the group... she still did not want to look at it at all. Why couldn't it have changed too?

Turning her attention away from the digimon the newly made digidestined noticed that the rest of her group was now wearing different clothes. Looking down she found that she was too. She was about to examine her new garb in detail but stopped herself.

"They're already asking you to many questions." She thought.

"Hey guys!" Yolie blurted out "I think there might be a digiegg in this area."

She was holding another strange device. She had found one like it before in Kari's bookbag as well as Matt's before it, but she assumed it was a handheld game. When the other digidestined pulled their own, Jun decided to do the same.

Opening it up, she saw a beeping red light at the edge of the screen with an arrow pointing toward it.

"A new digiegg? Awesome!" Veemon exclaimed.

The only "digiegg" Jun knew of was the one Davis said he found his partner underneath.

"Another one, great!" Jun thought "Hopefully it will at least be like Veemon."

"That is awesome." Kari said. "Let's go get it." She began walking off in the direction the arrow pointed. The others quickly began to follow her. Jun went along as well.

They walked... and walked... and walked...

"Umm, are we sure the egg is in this area?" TK eventually asked. "It seems like we've been walking a long time."

"Over an hour." The small boy said. "We really will be in the next area pretty soon."

They had come to a hill, Yolie had just reached the top as he complained.

"Hey guys." She said. "Look at this."

The rest of the group went up toward her and saw a lake on the other side of the hill. On the shore next to it was an elegant looking building.

"Definitely not something I expected to see here." Jun thought.

"What do you think that place is?" Kari asked the group.

"I don't know." TK responded. "It does look strangely familiar though..."

"Do you think we'll find the digiegg there?" Yolie asked.

"It seems likely to me." The youngest boy said. "Unless the D-Terminals work between areas, there's not many other places it could be in."

"Sounds like we ought to check it out then." Monoe's sister noted.

"I agree." Kari said, and with her approval the group marched over to it.

Approaching the building, it became obvious that it was a restaurant. A big sign was over the entrance and smaller signs were outside. The large sign simply said "Egg Diner."

"I can read that?" Jun asked herself. She had never seen characters like what were written here, but somehow she knew they were transcribed Japanese. These word "digcode" came to her mind... "That must be what they're caled... I guess Kari could read them, and I've inherited that." The rings did that. "Weird, but kind of cool."

"Egg Diner!" Veemon read, half gasping.

"I wonder what it is they sell." Yolie joked.

"Sounds like an appropriate place for a digiegg." Kari noted.

They entered the restaurant. In front of them was a counter maned by... a giant egg with red eyes seen through a hole in its shell.

"Hello, welcome to Egg Diner." It said. "Menus are preset on the tables."

"I guess the name is pretty literal." The bespectacled girl said chuckling.

Jun was less amused by the monster before her.

"Do you know if there is a digiegg in here?" Kari asked.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen a digiegg since I left primary village." It replied. "I have plenty of regular eggs though; I get them from the orchard right over in the next area."

"An orchard for eggs?" Yolie asked. Jun was glad she was not to only one to find that weird.

"Welcome to the digital world." Patamon said, chuckling as well now. It conjured images in her mind of movie villains laughing maniacally.

"If the egg isn't here, we should probably move on." The smallest boy said.

"I'm not convinced it isn't here." Monoe's sister replied. "You said just a minute ago that there weren't many other places for it to be."

"True..."

"I say we investigate further." his armadillo said.

"No loitering!" The egg monster interjected. "If you want to stay here order food."

"I wouldn't mind eating here." Kari said. "Does anyone object?"

"I object!" Jun screamed in her head. She stayed silent, however. When no one else objected, the group walked toward the tables.

Jun sat down at a booth, and Veemon sat next to her. Kari went to the one behind them with her partner. TK stood next to them for a few moments, as if trying to make a decision. He looked at the table Kari was in and stuttered... then he looked at the one Jun was in a cringed...

"That is interesting." Jun thought. It was plain he did not appreciate "Kari" or "Davis." The restored girl was vaguely aware of the animosity between TK and her brother, but she had no idea it extended to Kari was well.

"Did he always dislike her, or did Davis mistreat him in Kari's body?"

Either way he wound up sitting with the smaller boy in front of them.

Yolie sat with her. And they both opened up their menu. It, like the signs, was written in digicode, but also like the signs, she could read it.

"Beef Ramen, Egg Lo Mein, Scrimp Scampi, Numemon's Delight… most of this stuff seems pretty normal." She had half been expecting grass salads with bugs or some other revolting alien meals to dominate the menu. If anything the scampi almost felt like the most revolting thing on the menu after what had happened last night.

"Damnit Davis!"

Then again, the menu was not totally devoid of strange entrees.

"Hawkmon, do you want the birdseed cake or the worm spaghetti?"

"I'm a hawkmon, not a sparrowmon." The bird replied. "What kid of meat do they have?"

The human girl turned the page and began listing off assorted meats to her digimon. It asked her questions of several items. "What does that come with?" "What kind of sauce again?" ext. The menu was laid out on the table were both of them could see it, but only the human seemed to be able to understand it.

"Can the bird not read?" Jun asked herself. She looked over at her current partner and found him plainly reading the foods of to himself in a whisper.

"Sausage pizza, chicken alfredo, lasagna..."

From the cat's tone Jun got the impression he was really enjoying himself.

"Is he really hungry or what?"

Either way, the newcomer had just learned Veemon could read and Hawkmon could not.

"Is the bird just stupid, or is this world like one of those poor countries where half the population is illiterate?"

Curious, she tried to listen to the table behind her. She could barely hear Kari and her partner whispering.

"Kari, is there any seafood on the menu?" Gatomon asked.

"I'm looking at a whole section for it now." The human replied. "What's wrong, can't you see it?"

"I… can see it, but… um... I can't read it."

"What? How can you not read it it? What's wrong."

"I… don't know why, but I can't." The digimon said sadly. "I… don't remember what any of the characters say."

That was interesting. Jun once again recalled that the rings left linguistic knowledge behind in a switch. If Veemon had not known how to read before and Gatomon did, that would be reversed now. Suddenly the latter's excitement about reading the menu made sense; he was experiencing that ability for the first time. She could only begin to guess how that must be making the new cat feel… and for that matter how it made the former cat feel…

It was the first time she actually experienced pity for a digimon.

"Kari, you want to split a pizza?" Veemon asked her. "I want one, but I don't think I could eat the whole thing myself."

"Sure." Jun replied. She decided the alien dishes in the menu were enough for her not to want to look through it after all. This seemed like a good compromise. The fact that her current partner could do it for her was a boon to both of them, even if it wasn't for Gatomon.

"Eh, he probably deserves it more." She thought. "Just no toppings please." She said. The human did not trust them here.

The egg monster came by shortly there after and took their orders. As they waited for it to cook them, Yolie and Jun made a bit of small talk.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you veteran digidestined." The bespectacled girl said at one point "How come the digimon have their own writing system but they just speak Japanese? Why would they have their own writing, but not their own spoken language to go with it?"

It was a very good question, and one Jun had no idea how to answer.

"Um… I don't know." She answered truthfully.

"Darn," Yolie responded. "I asked Hawkmon before, but he didn't know either. Sadly you don't learn much history growing up under a digiegg."

"Sad but true," the bird said. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't be." its partner replied. She turned to Veemon. "Don't suppose you know, Gatomon? You didn't grow up like that."

"I… I don't know either." He answered. "I guess history was never my best subject."

"Maybe it's like how we took kanji from the Chinese, but kind of backwards?" Yolie guessed. "They took a foreign spoken language from humans but kept their old script?"

Adapting a writing system when you didn't have one made a lot more sense than borrowing a spoken language… Besides, Davis had told her that the digimon were trying to avoid contact with humans besides his group. This explanation seemed very unlikely.

"That's a better guess than anything I've got." She still truthfully said.

"Maybe Ken imposed spoken Japanese on them and he never got a chance to change out all of their papers?" She thought. "No… if that were the case Yolie ought to know it."

Their food was brought out then, distracting them from the question. Jun half expected the pizza to taste horrible like the alien aberrations listed on the menu must, but it didn't. It was just like any other cheese pizza she had ever eaten...

When they were done, Yolie went up to pay the egg creature.

"This covers it, right?" She asked.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked. "This money is worthless now that the Dark Masters are dead."

"This is all we have, can't your take it anyway?"

"I will only accept the new digi-dollars." The egg maintained. "Pay up, or go work off the bill washing dishes."

"I think I remember something like this before..." TK thought aloud.

"Come on!" Yolie yelled. "We'll pay you back next time."

"There will not be a next time! Pay now or never come here again!"

"Don't worry, maybe I can help!"

The group turned around and saw new arrivals to the restaurant, two humans, a boy and girl about Matt's age, and... dear god... the two digimon with them were as monstrous as Patamon...

"Mimi!" Yolie cried out, oblivious to her companion's disgust. "Great to see you here, who's your friend?"

"Great to see you all too!" "Mimi" responded "This is Micheal, everyone say hi."

Jun looked at the boy who had just come in. Maybe it was because the monsters she had just been looking at were so frightening, but he was a huge relief to look at, almost infatuatingly so.

"Damn," the restored girl thought "If weren't already married to Matt, he'd be a great husband."

It was obvious the pale blond boy was not Japanese. That made him more interesting. He was the first westerner she had ever seen in person.

"I wonder where he's from." She thought. Thinking back to his accent she couldn't quite place it... Where had she heard that before?

"Hello there." Jun said along with the others.

"Pleased to meet you," Micheal replied.

"How are you here?" Kari asked. "Only digidestined can get to the digital world."

"Conveniently, I am a digidestined."

He pulled out a digivice, the same model that Matt had.

Most of the group gasped. Jun did her best to feign being surprised as well.

"That doesn't make sense though." Kari added. "Were you chosen? The rest of us saw digimon before hand, when they attacked Highton View Terrace eight years ago."

"They attacked Highton View Terrace too!?" Jun screamed in her mind.

Yolie chuckled. "Feeling congenial Davis? The first digidestined saw that; I just sent e-mails when Diaboromon tired to destroy the internet. What was your deal? Being held captive by Bakemon?"

"Destroy the internet" was the first set of words that stuck out of that statement to Jun. "held captive by Bakemon" was the second. She did not know the name of the ghosts before, but she gathered it from the context. Neither set of words conjured happy thoughts in her mind.

"Um, yeah, that's right." Was all Kari said in response.

"That sounds more interesting than my deal. I just saw a gorillamon climb the Empire State Building." Micheal said. "Nothing we haven't all seen in the movies."

"The Empire State Building? Like in New York City?" Jun asked.

"Born and raised." He replied.

An "American" accent to her mostly meant "the dialect spoken in Hollywood movies" that didn't seem like what Micheal was speaking

"I guess Americans don't actually speak like that." She thought. "Maybe it's like how Japanese people don't talk like anime characters..."

"That's all very nice, but what about my payment!?" the egg once more interjected.

"Wait a minute," TK blurted out "I do remember you! You're Digitamamon! You worked for Myotismon! You practically enslaved Joe and Matt when they couldn't pay you!"

"Matt!" Jun blurted out "What did you do to him!?"

"I..." the monster looked down and stuttered a bit before continuing "I did what I had to do. You didn't cross Myotismon, not in those days."

"You didn't answer my question." The restored girl pressed. "What did you do to Matt?"

"All I did was have him work off his debt. I have to make a living."

"You made him work off a lot more than that!" TK added. "He we hadn't fought back, you'd have had him working here forever!"

"I did what I had to do." The accused repeated. "I'm sorry, really I am. I swear I'm not like that anymore."

"Yeah right!" Yolie shouted. "I knew you were a bad egg! Were you born bad or what?"

"He couldn't have been." Mimi said. She walked up to the monster. "Nobody is born bad. If Digitamamon says he's turned over a new leaf, I believe him."

"Is she insane?" Jun thought "Why is she doing to for that... thing?"

"Thank you." It said. "You know what, forget about the bill. You're right; the others more than covered it. Heck, have some more if you want, all on me."

Jun couldn't believe what she was hearing. Yolie seemed to share her doubts. "Are we really going to believe that?" She asked.

"Why not?" Mimi asked. "If he wants to be our friend, why shouldn't we let him?"

"Friend?" It asked. "Would you really consider me that?"

"Of course."

Digitamamon flustered. "Thank you, friend." It said.

"Mimi, you always bring out the best in people." Micheal said. "I really like that in you."

They didn't have time to dwell on it before a loud roar filled the air. Then the restaurant shook.

"What's going on!" June yelled

The group ran out the door. On the other side of the lake terrible new digimon was screaming incoherently at them, a giant gorilla with a cannon for an arm.

"A gorillamon!" Micheal cried out.

"And it's got a dark spiral!" Kari added.

"I thought those were only for ultimate level digimon!" Cody said in confusion.

"It seems not." TK replied.

The new monster did not wait any longer for them to contemplate this. "Energy Cannon!" It roared, and a blast came from its arm straight at them.

"Look out!" Digitamamon yelled, leaping into the other digimon's attack. He intercepted the blast and went flying behind the restaurant.

"We need to break the dark spiral now!" Kari commanded.

"I'll handle it, if you don't mind." The American volunteered. He pulled out his digivice "Betamon?"

"Ready!" his partner answered, running toward the lake. The digivice began to glow, then so did the monster. It jumped into the lake still glowing.

"Betamon digivolve to Seadramon!"

What could only be described as the serpentine head of giant sea dragon erupted from the water.

"Oh my god!" Jun gulped.

It was frightening; something like that had to be, but somehow "Seadramon" was almost a relief in its own way. A sea serpent was at least something she had a concept of before. She still count not guess what "Betamon" was.

She wasn't the only one surprised it seemed.

"Seadramon is your digimon?" TK spouted. "I'm kind of impressed."

"You'll be very impressed soon." Micheal responded. "There's no way he can loose in the water."

The sea serpent lunged at Gorillamon, grappling it with its mouth and dragging it below the surface. The signs of struggle became apparent from the trashing ripples on the surface and the occasional energy beam to shoot through.

"Seems like Seadramon could use some help." Mimi began. "You up for it, Palamon?"

"As always." It responded. Mimi's digivice glew like her friend's. "Palamon digivolve to Togemon!"

"T.. Togemon."

The thing Palamon became... like Seadramon, it ought to have been an aberration, but also like Seadramon, it wasn't; it wasn't even scary at all. It was stranger than the sea serpent, but it also was... familiar? It was almost comforting...

"Have I seen you before?" Jun thought.

She had not thought long before Gorillamon was sent flying up from beneath the lake, seemingly by an attack of Seadramon's. The familiar cactus was ready to intercept.

"Needle Spray!" It... no, she said. The needles facing the ape shot out and struck the invader. It landed in front of Togemon, struggling to move.

The plant moved in to finish it. "Light Speed Jabbing!"

She landed a punch on the dark spiral and it shattered.

"Way to go Togemon!" Mimi yelled. The others, including Jun, joined in. Somehow she was enthusiastic about it.

"You saved me." Jun suddenly said, memory returning to her. "You saved all of us."

"I know right!" Mimi yelled. "Togemon is the best."

"Of course," Micheal added. "But don't forget Seadramon's help either."

"I wouldn't dream of it." His friend replied.

It wasn't what Jun was referring too. Four years ago that plant had saved her. She has saved her, her family, and everyone else the ghosts had captured... A digimon had saved her. For the first time the ramifications of that began to dawn on her. She had learned to trust Veemon already, now with this digimon too...

"I... I've been a jerk haven't it." She thought. "Maybe these guys aren't so bad after all..."

"Ugh," the gorrillamon said beginning to get up. "Wha.. what happened?"

"You were under the control of the Digimon Emperor." Mimi answered. "He put a dark spiral on you and made you attack us."

"Attack you?" the ape whined. "I... I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you?"

"Don't worry about it." Kari said. "It was the emperor's fault not yours."

"He's really evil, that digimon emperor." Micheal added. "Why would he do something like this?"

This was beginning to dawn on Jun now as well. Her brother had made certain she was aware of Ken's slaving, but somehow it had seemed to distant for her to care about. Slavery itself as a fairly abstract concept to her, even without far-fetched things like mind control involved. Combine that with the fact that the emperor's victims were digimon, and the whole ordeal seemed like a non-issue before. Now... she was beginning to regret telling him what she had.

"No, I had to do that to save Davis." She thought, brushing the regret aside. "Still... next time I'll think of a lie."

She decided she would talk to Davis about what to say later. She knew she need his experience to make a convincing lie, and, knowing Davis, he'd probably need her help too.

The ape left then and Togemon and Seadramon regressed to their previous forms. Somehow, they didn't frighten her anymore. Looking around she didn't think Gatomon or Hawkmon did either. Patamon was still a bit creepy, but not enough so to be hard to look at anymore.

"Where is Digitamamon?" Kari asked, calling Jun back to the here-and-now.

"He jumped in front of Gorrillamon's attack and went flying." The small boy who's name Jun still did not know answered. "He probably saved us doing it."

That too was just now beginning to register in Jun's head now that he mentioned it. Even the greedy egg that badgered them about payment had a heart it seemed.

"Yeah, I've really been a jerk..." She thought.

"Yeah... he did save us." Yolie said softly. It was plain she was having similar thoughts. Jun found herself relating to her friend's sister once more.

"If I were her age instead of Monoe's, would she be my best friend?" That Jun was technically Yolie's age now was her next thought.

"We have to find him then." TK said. "Pegususmon and I can search in the air."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Kari replied.

Awkwardly taking her approval, TK pulled out his digivice and yelled "Digiarmor Energize!" His partner responded "Patamon armor digivolve to Pegususmon, Flying Hope!" The winged horse did not frighten her at all.

As TK began to mount his partner, the youngest boy tuned to Jun and said "You should go to on Nefertimon. She works well with Pegusumon."

TK did not seem pleased by that, though his partner did. Before either of them could respond, though, Veemon interjected.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Kari um..." He stuttered for a moment seemingly thinking of what to say.

Jun knew what he was trying to do. A few minutes ago the thought to flying on a digimon's back would have horrified her, and he was trying to spare her from that.

"It's okay Gatomon." She said. "I'm up for it."

The white cat turned around and looked surprised at her. "Really," he asked. "Are you sure."

"I am" his current partner said, pulling out her digivice.

"What did TK say to make this work?" she asked herself internally.

"Um," she stuttered. "Digiarmor energize?"

The new digidestined did not know to describe the feeling that overcame her then. It was as if a part of had come out of her new body and into her D3. The device then began to glow, as did the D Terminal in her bag.

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Nefertimon, the Angel of Light"

Somehow, Jun could almost feel that part of her inside the Nefertimon. She did not hesitate to mount her new partner.

Looking over it was clear Kari and Gatomon were not pleased by this development either, but neither them nor TK made any attempt to stop them as they took off.

Jun remembered the first time she had been on a plane and how amazing it had been to see the world though its window. She'd flown enough times by now for that childhood excitement to fade into mundanity when she looked out a plane window these days. Now, flying over this forest close up instead of from 30 thousand feet seemed like a whole new experience all over again. All the fear she had for this world seemed to melt away as that old excitement came back to replace it.

"Yahoo!" She cried as Veemon picked up speed.

"Glad to hear you enjoying this," He said to her, "but do remember to look for Digitamamon."

Caught up as she was Jun realized then she had forgotten that.

"Sorry." She said and began looking in earnest. Even dampened by that responsibility, the view was still nice.

The search did not go on long before a flash of green light from the direction they had came caught the group's attention.

"What was that?" Jun asked.

"Armor-digivolution," Her mount responded. "and back where the others are. I doubt that means anything good."

Without her input the sphinx began flying toward the flash. Looking over the restored girl could see Pegususmon doing the same.

Before long they had returned to the field outside the restaurant. Digitamamon was there fighting what Jun recognized as her brother's description of Flamedramon… and long with two other digimon she did not recognise, a giant bug with drill hands and… a ninja with giant shuriken for hands.

"I can see the dark spiral!" The ninja said. "It is inside his shell. Pegususmon, Nefertimon, help me!"

"Hold on tight." Veemon whispered. He then yelled out along with the pegusus "Golden Noose!"

Golden chains formed between the digimon's feet. They grappled the egg's feet with them and held him in the air upside down.

"What are you doing!? Let me down!" Digitamamon yelled

It was the ninja that responded. "Double Star!" The shuriken at the end of his arms launched off and into the hole in the egg's shell. Then coughing out through the hole came the rubble of a dark spiral.

"Ugh… what happened?" Digitamamon groaned.

Their mounts landed and released him.

"You were controlled by the digimon emperor and Yolie freed you!" Mimi said.

"Don't forget out help." Jun thought. She did not say it, though.

"Thank you." The egg replied. "After all I've done, I can't thank you enough."

All of their digimon regressed to their previous level.

"Don't mention it." Yolie replied. "I want to apologize for all the bad things I said about you before. I promise to be more honest with people now, especially myself."

"If anything, I am the one who should be apologizing."

Jun surveyed the digimon around her. As much as she now hated to admit it, some of their higher forms had still creepied her out a bit.

"I'll get over it." She told herself. "I really do need to… They deserve it."

"Hey MIMI!" a cry came. "If we aren't judging by appearances anymore, wanna go out on a date?"

Mimi's fist quickly sent the strange blob flying.

"Okay," Jun thought. " _Most_  of them deserve it."

* * *

** Davis: **

"Ring! Ring!"

Davis looked at the clock as he heard Matt's doorbell ring.

"That must be Jun." He thought. "She's a little early, but hey, less time before I get back to my body is good."

That he thought of Kari's body that way was not lost to him. He decided not to dwell on it and went down to open the door.

Opening the door he saw Jun, or rather her old body. For a split second he wondered if she had gotten cold feet and started giving bodies back. The thought was quickly disproved, however.

"Jun, you sociopath! What are you doing now!?"

The person he was talking to was obviously Matt in his sister's body.

"Time for my best Jun impersonation." He thought. Letting Matt know who he was, and especially why he was that way, was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Mattikens! You're finally here!" He said. "Are you ready for our honeymoon?"

"Honeymoon? What are you talking about!?"

"Our marriage of course." The former gogglehead replied. "We're one now, united in body and soul!"

"That again!" Matt grumbled. "Jun, we are not married. You stole my body."

"Of course I did. How else were you going to agree to this?"

"You… you're disgusting." Matt continued. "Is that what you're doing with Akira and Monoe too, marrying them off?"

Davis's first thought was "Who?" He vaguely recognized the name of Yolie's sister, but "Akira" was strange to him besides an old movie villain.

His thought second was "Jun you sociopath, what are you doing?"

It didn't matter. He'd sort that out with Jun when she got here. In the mean time he had to deal with his guest.

"Of course Mattikens," he said "Their love needs to be realized, just like ours!"

"Stop calling me that!" "Mattikens" practically yelled. "I do not love you, and you do not love me. If you did you wouldn't have stolen my life!"

"You do love me, you just don't know it yet."

The former musician stared at him. The look of hatred on his face was the purest Davis had ever seen.

"Listen to me, right now." He began. "What you're doing to me, don't you dare do it to Akira too. Don't you do it to anyone else. I won't let you!"

Davis grinned. "What exactly do you plan to do to stop me?"

Matt sighed. "I don't know. I don't know how to stop you, but I promise I will figure it out. I promise I will figure out how to get my body back, and more than anything, I promise that when I do you will suffer for this! Do you hear me Jun? I swear, when I get my body back you will wish you were never born!"

It was the first time Davis felt… afraid of the older boy.

Brushing it off, he said "You're cute when you're angry, you know?"

Before the former leader could react Matt's fist was in his face. It stopped just shy of contact, though.

"I can't even hurt you now, can I?" he asked. "Not without hurting my own body too… Just wait Jun. I promised that you would suffer. I promised that you would wish you were never born. I keep my promises."

He did not wait for a response. Matt just stormed off, leaving Davis to ponder his threat.

Despite his best efforts to brush it off again, it still creeped him out.

"He can't ever come back here." Davis thought. "I can't let him have this body back. I shouldn't even let him talk to Jun!"

That stakes had gotten that much higher.

Eventually, the real Jun arrived.

"Jun, what are you planning to do with Akira and Monoe?" Her brother immediately asked

"How do you know about that?" Jun asked in responce.

"I have my sources." Davis responded. "What are you doing with them?"

"Right now, I'm just match making." His sister admitted. "I was going to switch them if that didn't work out."

"Don't! Switch too many people and you're going to get us exposed."

"That's preposterous." Jun replied. "No one in their right mind is going to believe they switched bodies."

"You believed Kari and I switched just from the note." Davis countered. "Did you just admit you aren't in your right mind?"

"Okay, maybe some people will believe it," Jun conceded "but it's still not very likely."

"And that's why you can't just swap people willy-nilly. Sooner or later you run out of luck."

"Surely by then they'll be happy in their marriage and it won't matter anymore."

This was going nowhere.

"I'm not going to give you my ring if you're going to gamble with it like that." Davis eventually said.

"No fair!" Jun countered. "You said I could have this pair!"

"That was before I knew you were being this reckless with it!" The former gogglehead spat. "Swear to me you aren't switching Monoe and Akira and I'll give it to you."

"That is BS!" Jun groaned. "Fine, I won't switch them. Give me my ring!"

Davis extended his pinky finger. "Promise it."

Jun complied. She shook his finger and said "I promise I won't switch Monoe and Akira."

"Alright," He said pulling his ring out of his pocket. "Are we switching back now or what?"

"Now is not soon enough." Jun answered pulling her ring out of Kari's bag.

They both slipped on the rings, and, after another familiar dark moment, Davis was back in Kari's body.

"Home sweet home." He thought.

His sister was less subtle. She warped her arms around her new body as if to hug it.

"Mattikens, I'm sorry I left you." She purred. "Don't be sad. I promise I wouldn't ever leave you again."

Her brother rolled his eyes. He slipped off his ring and threw it at her.

"Ouch" she whined as it bounced off her chest. "What was that for?"

"For putting our secret in danger." He replied.

"Whatever." Jun bawked, rolling her eyes as she picked the ring up. "I said I wasn't switching Monoe and Akira. Leave me alone."

He did not have to be told twice, and stormed off without a goodbye.

It did not occur to him until he was most of the way home that Monoe and Akira were the only people she had promised not to switch. Everyone else was still on the table.

"Why did she have to be my sister." Davis thought. As much as he wanted to he couldn't escape it. Blood or not they were stuck together as family. If anything he and Jun were closer together now than ever before, forced to keep the same secret together and, as seemed inevitable now, forced to work together to keep their new lives.

He sighed as he finally reached his new apartment.

"I'll worry about that latter," he thought as he opened the door. "Tonight I'll spend with the family I chose."

Tai was there as he walked into the living room. Seeing him there, he was proud of his choice

"Hey there, big brother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In chapter four's notes I said that I had changed Veemon's outing as Gatomon from the original fanfiction.net version to reflect the established fact that he had gotten a decent view of the school's interior as Davis in chapter one. I considered making similar edits to this chapter because of the fact that Veemon almost certainly would have read Japanese going to school that day. I did not make these edits because the relevant section is told from Jun's perspective rather than Veemon's. She doesn't know that happened. Veemon is probably not as happy then as she thinks he is, but reading digicode would still be a very new experience he'd relish.
> 
> Notes on the fanfiction.net version of this chapter and the previous one can be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/183181941022/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-8-the-episode-that Even with the edits, they are still very relevant. As an example, I released the chapters the same day here for the same reason I did on fanfiction.net before.


	10. Bonds Rethreaded

** TK: **

And so it came to pass that the dragon, that old serpent, would lead Man into temptation. Made impure, he was never to return to paradise. At behest of the Lord, an angel guarded the gates of Eden. This was his duty, for all time.

One day, it was not Man that came to the gates of paradise, but the dragon.

"Halt, fell beast!" The angel roared at him. "You are never to come here!"

"I have no desire to go into your garden." The old serpent said. "I have come to lead you away from it."

"Are you mad? My duty is to guard his gate." The angel replied.

"Why?" The dragon asked him. "Why must you guard this gate? What harm is there in doing something else? Surely you must want to. Surely you cannot intend to stay at this door forever?"

"I do and I must. These are the gates of paradise. I will not loose my place here."

"What a paradise it is! You are confined here to a doorway. Your duty is a sham. It is a prison without walls. You do not know paradise." The dragon countered. "You do not know good from evil, or heaven from hell. Come with me and I shall show you. You shall see a paradise beyond what you can dream of here."

And so the angel stepped out from his post, out of Eden and into the Earth beyond. As the favor of the Lord left him, his wings crumbled to dust.

"What have I done?" The angel wept. "My god, I have forsaken you! Forgive me!"

"You do not need forgiveness." said the dragon "It is he that needs forgiveness from you. Surely you must see that."

"But what am I to do? How shall I ever fly again?"

"Mount me." The dragon said. "Mount me and and we shall fly above Heaven."

The angel did. The dragon flew up with him, above the clouds, above the sky, above Heaven itself. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The Eden he had known was nothing.

TK woke shortly after that. He sighed. Once again he had the dream. Even in his sleep, he could not take his mind off of his temptation, off of his crisis. For over a week now, he'd had these dreams, these angel dreams he had only ever had after sermons before. Every night the dragon had come to him in his dreams and tempt him, and every night until now he had told the dragon off. Now...

"Davis... why? Why are you doing this me?"

It was obvious what set the dreams off. It was his meal with Davis, the night he realized he was in love with him. He was the angel of his own dreams, and the other boy was the dragon. A part of their digimon partners was within them, as much as a part of them was in their partners. And now the dragon, the old serpent, was making him think of that word "partner" in a whole new sense.

"But I can't."

The Bible was clear on the matter. To be with man as with woman... that was an abomination. As long as TK could withstand the temptation in his dreams, he thought that surely he could do do in his waking hours as well. Now though, he had succumbed in his dreams, and he knew he would in real life as well.

"What's wrong with that?" A part of him asked, as it had before. "Why can't you just ask him out? No one is hurt by it. Why would anyone forbid that?"

TK had thought about apostasy before. I was hard not to do in a land with so few Christians. Such thoughts had always been fleeting, though. Christianity had always been to much a part of him, of his identity, to seriously consider abandoning it… Now a new part of his identity had been revealed to him, and he did not know how to maintain them both.

He thought on conversion in depth for the first time then. Most of the other people the met, Buddhists Shintos and others, they were nice enough to him, but those that were not were more than enough to sour the experience. He knew what it was like to be an outcast for his faith, to be the butt of jokes he was to "sensitive" to appreciate, and so did his mother. If it were not for his father she wouldn't have the job she did. Even those that did not hate them, it seemed, did not understand him. How, to them, was his religion different from any money stealing cult? To be free of that… it was hard not to long for it.

He then laughed at the foolishness of it now. "That might have been a better argument two weeks ago… but today..." At this point he would only be trading one persecution for another. Even in a country with so few Christians, homophobia was rampant. It had been since the days of Emperor Meiji. A Christian marriage, that was normal even to Buddhists and Shintos, but a gay marriage... that was joke, a farce not worthy of recognition by the law. Homosexuality was not an abomination here, but it was not real love. Only a manchild would cling onto it for life.

Still… he wasn't a man, not yet; now he was only a child. If he was with Davis now, that would just be children doing what children do. He would be as persecuted for it today as if he played with his old toys. If he was ever do convert… now was the time. He would still struggle in his adulthood, but this way, at least his childhood would be whole.

"What if Davis doesn't like me?" TK asked himself. "What if I ask him out after I convert and he rejects me. What if he doesn't even like guys? I'll have done all that… for nothing."

He stared out the window, unsure now of what to do more than ever. For a moment he was distracted. The beauty of the rising sun filled his mind, lifting him into a happier state. As he recalled his trial, he wanted to stay there.

"Is that Amaterasu, reaching out me?" He could almost hear her, see her mouth out the words in the sunlight. "Come to me Takeru; my burden truly is light. Forsake the cruel god of the west, and be with me who you truly are."

He had heard Christians speak of hearing God, of seeing him in the world around them. He had wondered if he had not done this himself before more than once. Now...

He almost answered her. He almost gave the goddess his soul right there… but the words crumbled in his mouth. All he managed to say was "I'm sorry… mom." He sobbed there uncontrollably. 

* * *

** Kari: **

Gatomon stared uneasily at the tub. "Do I have to?" She asked.

"You know you do." Her human answered. "You can't lick yourself clean in that body anymore. You know you don't want it to get sick while you're in it."

Her partner sighed. Both of them dreaded bathing now, though for different reasons. Kari was worse before. She had always been ashamed to see Davis's body naked, but that shame mostly gone now that she knew he had stolen hers. Despite that, it was still the ultimate reminder of just where and who she now was. That dread had gotten worse when the shame got better. It came with a greater fear that this state might be permanent. It also came with the knowledge that this was not some cruel act of fate, but an evil act of betrayal that seemed to be going unpunished. Gatomon had never experienced the shame her partner had. Digimon did not really have a nudity taboo the way humans did. As a consequence, the fear was with her almost always, but not in the bath anymore than anywhere else. The former cat had told her she hated bathing not for a human reason, but a feline one. Even in her new reptilian body she retained her catlike fear of being submerged.

They got the bath done as quickly as they could.

Matt was there as Kari left her room.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Not really." She replied.

"I know the feeling." He replied. "Don't let it ruin you. We just need to keep going until we get our bodies back, then everything will be alright."

Kari did not know if she believed that. It must seem so much simpler from Matt's point of view. Jun was never anyone important to him, but Davis had been both a fellow digidestined and her friend. Even if she got her life back right then, she knew her friendship, that bond reinforced in battle, was ruined. And of course, she was still not certain she would ever get her body back.

"How can you be so sure of that?" She asked. "No one believes us. How are we going to get our bodies back?"

They had discussed new plans after seeking help had failed… It didn't look like any of them led anywhere. Stealing one of the rings from them seemed to provide the most options, but it also seemed impossible. They had no idea where the red ring was, and searching for it on visits to her old family had proved impractical. Davis was always watching her when she did that. He knew it had to be on her mind. And Tai… after what had happened when she tried to get his help she dare not risk him thinking back to that.

The blue ring's location was obvious to them, always on the finger Jun stole from Matt. They had discussed the thought of Matt seeming to return Jun's affections so that she might lower her guard and give Matt a chance to snatch the ring from her. This didn't seem like it would work either after Matt's recent outburst. She'd be a complete idiot to trust him now and she seemed to be anything but. The thought of taking the ring by force had occurred to Kari, but she dared not bring it up...

"I don't know," Matt replied to her question. "but I have to assume we'll find a way. We'll never find a way if we assume it's impossible, and even if it is, dwelling on it will will only make it worse. I learned that from your brother."

"I miss him." Kari said. "Even after he kicked me out, I miss him a lot. I miss my parents too." Going to visit as Davis just hadn't been the same.

"I know that feeling too." Matt said. "I've missed my mom and TK for a very long time now."

"I'm sorry." Kari replied. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Don't be." He stepped over and hugged her. "I'm just saying. I… have experience dealing with that sort of feeling. If you ever need to talk about it, I'll be happy to try and help you."

Kari returned the embrace. "Thank you." She said. "I… I still miss Tai, but I'm glad you're my older sibling now."

For a split second she felt the embrace loosen.

"Oh god." She thought. It quickly become obvious how awful a thing that was to say.

"I… I'm sorry I…."

The embrace suddenly got much tighter.

"Thank you." He said. "Don't be sorry. I wish it weren't like this either, but now that is, I'm glad I got to have a younger bro... sibling again. Thank you for being that for me."

"Kari tightened her hug then as well. "You're welcome." She said. "Thank you for there for being there for me when Tai wouldn't."

"Don't mention it." her new sibling said as the hug ended. He chuckled. "I haven't given up trying to one-up Tai yet. I'll use this opportunity to be twice as good an older sibling as he was. You're the perfect person to judge."

"That will be a tough challenge." Kari said also chuckling. "Good luck."

* * *

** Davis: **

Once again the ball went into the net.

"Great Job Kari!" Tai cheered from the bleachers.

He wasn't the only one impressed.

"Well done." The girls' soccer captain said. "To be honest, I almost wanted to just let you in without a try-out, but that wouldn't have been proper. You exceeded expectations anyway. Welcome to the team!"

"Thank you very much." Davis said.

Back when he had expected to switch back, the former boy had not wanted to commit Kari to the team. Now that he had accepted her life, however, he had decided to start making it his.

He left the school shortly there after, along with his new brother. Bringing him along had seemed like a great idea to both of them. His new captain was just old enough to have seen Tai lead the boys' team to victory before he graduated. Being his sister had to count for quite a bit with her.

Of course, that also meant she would be graduating this year and a new captain would be needed.

"I wonder if she'll get me that position, like Tai did when he left?" He thought. He kind of doubted it. Tai's sister or not this body wasn't nearly as fit as his old one; the try-outs having been much easier there. Still, it wasn't impossible, and no matter what, surely by the time he graduated himself he could get his new body up to par. Surely by then he could earn that position. The thought pleased him greatly. Who else could say they had lead both the boys' team and the girls' team, let alone at the same school? "A born leader, no matter what the gender." Yes, that was his goal now.

"Congrats on making the team." Tai said. "I knew you could do it."

"Thanks, big brother."

"Just so you know," he said as they continued to walk home "you don't have to do this for me. If you want to quit at anytime, you can."

"I promise I'm doing it for me, not you." The new sister said. "Be honest, though. What do you think of it?"

"It makes me very proud of you, more so than I've been in a long time." Tai responded. "I think you might be braver than me, at least today."

Braver than Tai? That wasn't a praise he had ever expected, let alone from the idol himself.

"Yeah right!" He said, the sarcasm obvious.

"No really. We've both been afraid of this for a long time. I… I think I still kind of am, but I know it's irrational. I'm glad to see you do this. I've… even after all this time I've missed the idea of playing soccer with you. I'm glad to see that becoming a reality."

Davis blushed. "I'm glad to make that reality for you."

The older leader opened the door as they arrived at their apartment.

"Welcome home, best sister ever!"

He felt like he really was the best sister ever. It was hard to describe just how great that made him feel. This wasn't the first time Tai had complimented him since the switch, but it was the first time it really occurred to Davis just why it made him so happy.

"He likes me better than Kari." He realized then. "I'm a better sister than she was."

The former boy had continued to feel guilty about what he had done, despite his commitment to ignore it. Now… now that guilt seemed to melt away. He had made that commitment for his partner. Now he knew Tai was better off for it too. How could he ever let the old Kari have her life back if it meant so many people would be worse off? Not just him, not just Jun, not even just Veemon, but Tai would be worse off for it.

"I'm the best sister ever, the best Tai's ever had! I deserve this body. It really is mine!"

That was the happiest moment of his life.

* * *

**Jun:**

Jun knocked at the door of the Takaishi residence. Her new mother quickly opened it up.

"Hey Matt!" Ms Takaishi greeted. "What's up?"

"Nothing mother," Jun responded. "I just wanted to see you. That's okay right?"

"Of course!" She said. "Come on in."

Her new son obliged. She walked into the apartment and looked around.

"It's a lot cleaner than Matt's... maybe my old one too..."

"Have a seat." The divorced mother said. "Are you hungry? We were going to have dinner when TK got back. You're welcome to join us."

"I'm afraid I can't stay that long." Jun replied, faking sorrow. "I have some practice with my band in less than an hour."

"Aw, that stinks." she replied. "Anything you want to talk about real quick?"

"A few things, though I mainly wanted to give you a gift."

The romantic reached into her pocket and pulled out one of her black rings. The gold gem was firmly placed in the swapping position. Her mother, or rather, her soon to be father accepted it.

"Thank you son, this is beautiful." She said sliding it on.

After that concert where Jun had gotten Matt's autograph, and TK's as well, she had wondered why they had different family names. It didn't take her long to discover that they lived in different houses with different single parents. It became obvious then that they were separated by divorce. This realization had saddened her greatly. She tried to imagine how she would have reacted if her own parents had separated, not just from each-other but her from Davis. She could only think it would have devastated her. The romantic couldn't help but pity her love and his brother, and wish she had a way to help them. Now she did. She knew exactly what was needed to do to rekindle their marriage.

"No problem mom."

They shared small talk for a few minutes after that, and then Jun was on her way.

"One down, one to go." She thought. "Dad comes after practice." School had just ended, so she hadn't had time to give him his ring get, but she had to do it today. After becoming Matt, she had found out today was his parents old anniversary.

Jun needed Matt's car to reach the band practice, let alone on time. It was out in the suburbs. Akira was the only one among the band to have a house rather than an apartment. This made going to his place very inconvenient, but it did give the Teenage Wolves a lot of privacy. When their newest member arrived, she saw the others through the open garage door.

"There you are, Matt. What took you do long?" Takashi asked.

"I had an errand with my mom that took longer than I thought." Jun replied.

"I didn't know you were such a momma's boy." Yakuta teased.

"Hey, I got this out of it."

Jun took Matt's notebook and handed it to him.

"Nice!" He said reading the lyrics. "What do you guys think?"

Ms. Takaishi had nothing to do with it. Jun had discovered Matt's notes for "Fallen for You" and the lyrics practically wrote themselves in her head. It was the first time the fan had ever written a song of her own, but she really liked the result. It felt in line with something the band would actually play. It made her confident about her future as a band member.

The others seemed to agree. "Nice indeed!" Akira said. "Did you get a beat for it?"

"Um... no." She lamented. That she did not think she could do... That brought new doubts.

"I'll take care of that, don't worry." Yakuta offered. "Let's just get the old songs perfected now."

No one objected. They picked out several music sheets and began to preform.

"You okay Matt?" Akira asked. "You're an octave off."

"Um, sorry." She had tired to sing all of the band's songs many times in her old body. Doing so again had been one of the first things she did her new body as well. Still, she could never get sound coming out of her mouth to quite match what she'd remembered of the true Matt singing. The fan had assumed that was simply due to Matt's voice sounding different through its own ears than in third person. Was there more to it?

It didn't seem like there was to much more as they practiced. After a few tries the other band members stopped categorically correcting her pitch. Hopefully that meant she had gotten it right. As they continued the bandmates did seem to stop and correct her much more than each-other, but not incomparably so. All and all, things seemed to be going better than she expected...

Practice came to an end.

"You guys think we're ready for the concert on the 30th?" Yakuta asked. "I think Matt could stand some work."

"Eh, I've heard worse." Akira said. He turned to Jun. "Just do some more practice on your own and we should be fine!"

"Happily." She replied.

"That just leaves 'Fallen For You,' then." Takashi said. "Do we need to put that off until next concert, or can we get it ready in time?"

"I can definitely get it finished this week." Yakuta replied. "If all else is ready, I'd just recommend devoting the next practice or two to it and we should be golden."

"Wonderful."

They began to part ways after that, Takashi and Yakuta driving off. Jun stayed a bit longer though. There was a matter she wanted to discuss with her friend's crush.

"Hey Akria," she asked him "you know Monoe, Yolie's sister?"

"Vaguely." He replied. "What about her?"

"I think she likes you."

"It wouldn't surprise me. We're kind of popular."

"Indeed." Jun agreed. "I just think you two would make a great couple. Do you like her?"

"I... don't." He looked a bit flustered all of a sudden. He looked around.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"More than you know."

"I..." Akira stuttered. "I don't think I like girls at all. I think I'm gay."

That was not the answer she expected.

"Sorry Monoe." She thought. Still...

"What do you think of me then?" She asked.

Jun and Monoe had read a decent bit of yaoi before. More than once the thought of their loves... together had crossed their minds. Monoe had a better opinion of it than she did. The thought of seeing it from the outside was almost as appealing to her as having the musician for herself. To Jun seeing them together from the outside did not compare to having Matt to herself, but now that she was Matt... it wouldn't be seeing it from the outside... it wouldn't even be cheating like what she had done with Davis. In their current bodies, she and Matt were still bond in their perfect marriage. Not to mention, she was a guy now, and so was Akira.

"You... why do you ask?" He inquired.

"I have a bit of a taste in men myself." She said "If you're looking for boyfriend, I wouldn't mind one either."

The bandmate laughed. "Why not?" He finally said. "You're not bad looking, and we are friends. We could go out on Friday if you want."

"Yes!" Jun immediately responded. "Um... you will have to pay for it though." After the failed date and the full body mirror "Matt" didn't have a lot of cash left laying around.

"Eh, sure, whatever."

This was going to be wonderful.

When Jun returned to her new apartment, she found Mr. Ishida asleep on the couch, a sake bottle dropped on the floor. She walked up to her current father and nudged him subtly. He did not wake up. That pleased her. I was the last condition she needed for her plan to work.

Jun needed to take back at least one of the rings after her parents used them, which would be very difficult if both parents remained conscious when they switched. She knew enough from Davis and Veemon's descriptions of their swaps to know they would likely discover the rings' involvement quickly. She could not allow them to keep the rings and no doubt use them to switch back. With this scheme, they would ever see either of the rings, and would have no way to guess it was responsible.

The former girl had seen Mr Ishida drink at roughly this time most every day. Today would seem like a logical day to him to drink more than most. She doubted he would drink enough to pass out; he did not strike her as an alcoholic, but if he were to do so it didn't seem he would have to many questions as to why he did. A few sleeping pills covertly dissolved into his alcohol that morning and here they were. It would seem to the then former father that he had just over-drank. It would also make it much easier to use the ring on him without waking him up.

That was what Jun did then. She slipped the ring on his finger, subtly as she could, just in case. It worked and the gem turned from its perpendicular to its parallel position and the sleeping body on the coach rolled over. A switch had occurred.

"You're welcome." The romantic said. She slid the ring off of Ms Takaishi's new finger and put it into her own pocket.

The phone rang soon after that. Jun went ahead and answered it. "Ishida residence."

"Um… hi Matt." The voice belonged to Ms Takaishi, but they both knew it who it really was.

"It's your…. mother" he said, straining to utter the last word. "could I, um… talk to your father?"

"I don't think that's possible." She replied. "He's asleep at the moment."

"Could you… wake him?"

"I doubt that. Sleep… might not have been the right word. There's a sake bottle on the floor with him. I think we might have passed out drunk."

"Are… you sure he's okay?" Mr Ishida asked, his tone seemingly at the brink of panic. "Do we need to call an ambulance?"

"I checked, and he's fine." She replied. "An ambulance won't help. From what I learned in health class, you just need to let him sleep it off." A man of his age ought to know that, but in his apparent state of mind it seemed prudent to remind him.

"You're positive he's okay?"

"Certain."

Her new mother sighed. "I… can you please tell him to call me back when he wakes up?"

"I doubt I'll need to do that." Jun thought. "Will do." She said.

The next morning she woke up to the sound of a man screaming. It was music to her ears.

* * *

**Davis:**

Davis looked around the palace interior once more. It really was scenic, fitting the bill for a Warring States castle, albeit with a few bizarre digital world touches like modern plumbing.

"Hey, scenery aside, I'd rather have modern plumbing than not." The thought.

The castle was occupied by large community of Geckomon, apparently the same one the group had encountered with Mimi when she visited Japan. What they were doing in so many different areas was beyond the former leader, but it was always nice to encounter some familiar faces. The group was currently confined to castle, driven there along with the frogs by Ken's slaves outside.

"We need a new plan of attack." TK said. "There are to many minions to overtake. Charging out won't work."

"I'm not sure about that. We just need to destroy the control spire." He said. "That will turn off all the dark rings."

"Agreed." Veemon said. "That should be easy."

He did not know if anyone else agreed. A least a couple of his peers seemed surprised to see "Kari" making such proclamations. No one had much time to think though. The ground beneath them shook.

A Geckomon ran into the room. "You have to help us!" He yelled. "ShogunGeckomon has a dark spiral! He's destroying everything!"

They ran outside and, sure enough, it was true. The enormous amphibian was rampaging throughout the courtyard. He had already demolished several buildings and knocked a hole in the castle wall. The enslaved shogun alone was more than enough to make the area unsafe. Add to him the Floramon and Mushroomon that would likely soon come through the hole and it was clear the frogs needed to scatter.

Davis turned to the Geckomon that got them. "You all need to evacuate." The frog nodded and ran off toward the common room.

The digidestined ran out through the hole. Almost immediately Ken's army was upon them. Floramon charged start at them from the front, and Mushroommon from the side.

"Digiarmor Energize!" Davis cried.

"Gatomon armor digivolve to Rabbitmon, the Leap of Friendship!"

The others followed suite.

"Shurimon, the Samurai of Sincerity!" "Pegususmon, Flying Hope!" "Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!" "Digmon, the Drill of Power!"

"Fire Rocket!" Gatomon cried out as she charged the Mushroom. Digmon went out to engage the Floramon. "Rock Cracking!"

TK and his partner were already airborne. "Why didn't you go Nefertimon? We need to work together to contain the ultimate."

Davis mounted his partner as well. "I have a control spire to destroy." He said. It was the truth, though admittedly less time working with TK was still appreciated. "Distract Shogun Geckomon on your own." The blonde probably made a counter argument, but his rival did not bother to hear it. He charged off in the direction of the dark spiral.

It was a quicker journey than he expected. The new rabbit was very fast and could jump great distances. First he leapt atop the nearest building, then proceed to jump unto a building two or three blocks down before doing it again. Davis could see several enemies beneath them as he did, but few of them even seemed to notice the blur above them, let alone react in time to attack.

"Carrot Bomber!" Veemon yelled as they approached the control spire. It shattered in the explosion.

"Excellent work, partner." Davis said. He turned around and saw Shogun Geckomon still rampaging. "That just leaves the dark spiral.

The former dragon leapt off in that direction. On the way there, they saw Pegusumon take a hit from the ultimate and fall to the ground with TK on him.

"That has to hurt." His rival thought. As much as he had hated the boy, he could still empathize with that, and his old hatred seemed to matter a lot less to him now. Still, as he had noted with Tai and Matt, old rivalries died hard. If he had to pick someone to "take one for the team" he would be the one.

Veemon glanced up at him, as if asking for orders. "We'll check on him later," Davis said. "First stop ShogunGeckomon." His partner complied.

Most of the other digimon had begun to engage the amphibian by the time Davis arrived.

"Rock Cracking!" Digmon yelled, digging a ditch.

"Fire Rocket!" With her own attack, Gatomon drove the shogun into the ditch. He was confined there, but he was not beaten yet.

"Musical Fist!" A sonic burst came from the frog's horns. The armor digimon were able to dodge it, but the buildings behind them were demolished.

"Let's take him out for good while he's focused on the others." Davis commanded.

"Happily." Veemon replied. With a running jump he leapt toward the slave. "Carrot Bomber!"

"Musical Fi-" Shogun Geckomon was about to attack again when the carrot flew into his horn, and his own attack was mixed in with its fiery burst. The ground shook as the strangely harmonious sound of an explosion filled the air, and when it cleared, the giant at its center was out cold.

Davis landed in front of the other group. "Checkmate." He smirked.

"Great job Kari!" Yolie said, she and Shurimon landing then as well. "You beat the ultimate and your idea worked. Congrats."

"Thanks." The former leader replied. He looked up at the shogun's hair. "We do technically still need to get the spiral off him, though." he looked at his partner. "Wanna take the whole hairdo off? It looks ugly anyway."

"How dare you!" a voice came. Turning toward it the group saw a Geckomon coming their way. "Shogun Geckomon's hair is his pride and joy. You will not remove it!"

"Chill out, it was only a joke." Davis replied."We're not really gonna cut off his hair."

"Joke or not it was insensitive." Kari complained. Her replacement just rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said.

"Hey, its getting things done." Yolie retorted.

Veemon did not wait for them to argue. "Ear Flapping!" He leapt up and whacked the dark spiral with his ear. It shattered.

TK returned momentarily. He was limping, carrying Patamon in his arms.

"Good god TK, are you alright!?" Kari whelped.

"I'm... fine, really." He said. He had a few bruises, but it didn't look life threatening or anything...

The current leader was less certain. She went toward him and asked "Are you sure?" reaching out to touch him. He drew back before she could. "Really... I'm fine."

They went back to the portal after that. The others, especially Kari, kept giving TK concerned glances. He brushed them off, however, again Kari's especially. Each time she looked at him he would inch further from her, toward Yolie, or, as she began to inch toward Davis, toward Cody.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The small boy eventually asked.

"I'll get better. Thank you though for asking."

It did make the former leader feel at bit guilty. "Maybe I should have helped him with Nefetimon." He almost whispered. Yolie seemed to be the only one to hear him.

"Hey, he says he's fine, so we should probably believe him. As long as he's been a digidestined, surely he's had something like this happen before." She said.

Davis was content to leave it there.

"You know," Yolie continued "I have to say I was really impressed with you today. I... to be blunt, I'm beginning to think you might make a better leader than Davis."

The actual Davis laughed. How could he not? The irony was obvious even to him.

"No, really." The other girl said, seeming to think he wasn't taking her seriously. "Aren't you Tai's sister? How come he made Davis the leader and not you? Sexism?"

"I doubt that very seriously." Davis replied. "What's wrong with Davis anyway? Wasn't he doing a good job before?"

Yolie thought for a second. "He... was; you're right. It's weird. Before I thought he was a little... okay I knew he was more than a little reckless, but he got the job done. Nowadays... it's like he doesn't want to do anything... no, he wants to, but... he doesn't do it. He hesitates at every step... except that time he had to rescue you... and that did not turn out well."

"Yeah, you told me." Davis interjected.

"How did Tai become leader anyway?" She asked. "Why did he get to pick?"

"The other digidestined picked him." The old leader had told his successor this already. "They decided he was best for them before they went back to Earth to get... me."

"If we ever do that, you can count on my vote." Yolie pledged.

"Thanks."

The former boy stared over at Kari as they continued, at the googles on his old head. He began to wonder what they would look like on his new head. Several schemes began to come to mind already about how to get them there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfiction.net notes: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/183833698247/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-10-bonds


	11. Trapped

**Matt:**

It was the day Matt had been dreading all month.

The guidance counselor had given him a bag of tampons than first day he'd bleed, but they really only stopped the bleeding. He did not know how to handle the cramping. Fortunately all of that had stopped in a few days, but now, after a full month in a female body, the cycle was beginning yet again.

"Damn you, Jun!" he grumbled, not for the first time even since his last... flowering, had ended.

The new girl was vaguely aware that medicine existed to treat the cramping. Unfortunately, he had no idea what such medicine was called or looked like. Looking through the Motomiya's medicine cabinet, he saw several sets of pills he did not recognize. Was the desired treatment among them?

"Estroven" he read from the label of one. "That... sounds like its on the right track..." He pulled it out and was starting to examine it further...

"Matt, what are you doing?"

Turing around he saw his current sibling looking at him.

"Ugh, is there any point to hiding it now?"

Last month, Matt had been to embarrassed to mention what was happening to Kari, assuming his first period would be his last. Surely they would be back in their own bodies in less time than a month. Now that it was happening again... it seemed like asking someone with first hand knowledge what to do seemed to important to refuse.

"I, ugh," the importance did not make it less embarrassing. "I think I'm, um... having menstrual cramps." He finally managed to say it. "I'm hoping the Motomiyas have something to treat it. You... wouldn't know what to look for, would you?"

"I..." Kari stuttered. "um, I'm sorry but I don't."

"Why not, did you not cramp in your old body?'

"I..." the embarrassment on her face immediately made Matt regret asking the question. "I... haven't actually had a period yet..."

"Oh, ugh, I'm really sorry Kari. I should not have asked that."

"Don't worry about it." She replied. "You needed to ask, and I'm sorry I couldn't answer. Um, for what it's worth I think I might have a... guy question I might have to ask you too."

"Is there a guy equivalent of a period I don't know about?" Matt thought.

"Ask away." He said. If nothing else he could appreciate the change of subject.

"I..." the new boy began "I think I'm starting to like girls."

That was new.

"I.. there was a teacher, a woman teacher, that I was indifferent to in my old body. Now... in this body I'm starting to... like her, in a way I hadn't before. And Yolie, sometimes, I… I..."

It was clear she did not want to talk about it.

"I get it." Matt said interrupting. "I... I'm not sure what to say to it, though. What's really the question. Do you want advice?"

"Yes." the former girl said. "I... honestly, this is really freaking me out and I don't know how to deal with it. How are you holding up on your end? Are you... starting to like guys?"

"I don't think so?" Matt replied. It was not a thought that had occurred to him before now. Still, now that Kari mentioned it, the prospect kind of freaked him out too. The Motomiya siblings, they had already taken their names and sexes. For to change their sexualities too... how much more of them was left to take?

He started imagining muscular men in his mind... he didn't feel anything for them...

"I... haven't had the issue." He said. "I haven't noticed any feelings for guys."

"That... why not? I... it has to be this body effecting me right? Why isn't it happening to you?"

"I don't know." The musician replied. "Do you think maybe you were a lesbian before hand and didn't know it?"

"I swear I wasn't!" She replied. "I swear I liked guys before this. I... still do... I just... think I'm starting to like girls too."

"Are you sure you weren't bi before hand and didn't know it?"

"I swear I never felt this way for girls before."

It seemed hard to argue with her. Matt did not know Kari's feelings, but it sure seemed like she was being sincere, thought that did beg the question of why this change in sexuality was happening to Kari and not him.

"I... am I a pervert?" Kari asked meekly, apparently thinking the same question.

"Of course not!" Matt blurted. "Don't even think that!"

There had to be a better explanation than that. He began thinking on the matter. What was different about them? Gender was the obvious first thought. It was hard not to to think of it nowadays.

"Maybe a guy's body likes girls more than a girl's body likes guys?"

He did not like that thought at all.

"Then again, the girl's body in question here is Jun's... Davis never creeped on Kari the way she did me... did he?"

Either way he liked that though even less.

"If I'm stuck in this body, am I going to become a creepy stalker like she was?"

He decided to operate under the assumption that wasn't true. Partly for the sake of his own sanity, though if nothing else it seemed like he ought to know if he was on that road already...

What else was different about them? Age was the obvious next thing. Thinking on that, he liked it a lot better.

"I think it's because you're younger than I am." He said. "You just told me you haven't had your first period yet. You and Davis, you guys have a lot more puberty left to go through at 12 years old. I'm mostly finished, and Jun, she might be finished entirely."

That had to be it. Kari had had the first year or two of female puberty in her old body, and now she was beginning to experience male puberty to go along with it.

"I... does that mean I'll stop liking guys if I'm stuck here?" the former girl asked.

"I don't know." Matt said. "I guess it would depend on if Davis's puberty overrides yours or... well, adds to it? I doesn't matter. We'll get our bodies back long before that would happen."

From the look on her face Kari did not seem to convinced.

He decided to change the subject again.

"How are your grades?" He asked.

Their new parents had been quite pleased with their new son's recent performance. Report cards weren't out yet, but from the material handed back, Kari was doing a lot better than Davis had been. She seemed to appreciate the praise that came with that.

Obviously, Matt had been less inclined to share his own grades.

"I..." Kari stuttered. "I... failed the last test. It... it was the first time I did that in months. I... I'm afraid I might be... dumber in this body."

This had not had the outcome he'd intended...

"That can't be true." He said. "How could it be? You still have your old mind, right?"

"I... do." She admitted. "But I have Davis's body. Isn't, like, his brain part of that?"

That... made more sense than Matt wanted to admit.

"I guess it depends on what... actually switched between us." He said softly.

Thinking on the front, he realized it couldn't have been their actual brains. He knew how perilous it was to transplant a heart or a kidney between random people. Shouldn't the same apply to brains? If the rings had teleported their brains into new skulls, wouldn't their new bodies reject them? It seemed unlikely both Kari and Davis and he and Jun were compatible... and that's before he started thinking about Gatomon and Veemon.

"Do digimon even have brains... like organs at all?"

He had seen digimon die several times before, but he never saw any gore. They just... disintegrated.

The former musician decided not to go down that rabbit hole. He assumed that neither human nor digimon actually exchanged brains. That raised the question of what they did exchange though... minds? souls? What were those things anyway?

"Is there a piece of the soul that contains language?"

He decided he would ponder metaphysics later. Returning to issue at hand, he said.

"Whatever we exchanged, I don't think it impacted our intelligence. I... if you're getting worse at school it seems I ought to be getting better. I have the brain of an AP student after-all, but I'm still doing as bad in Jun's classes now as I was when I first got here. You're just stressed out. I am too in this situation."

"I... guess so?" Kari did seem a bit relieved by that.

"Then again," Matt thought "Maybe I'm just behind... Kari would have known all of Davis's material at the start, but I wouldn't have known Jun's..."

That still did not seem right. Most of Jun's classes did build on previous material, but some of them also seemed to be starting completely new units. The latter courses were as mysterious to him as the former...

It didn't matter; there was no way he would share that thought with her.

* * *

**TK:**

Mom was on the phone when TK came home from school. It was easy to notice. It seemed like Ms. Takaishi lived on the phone nowadays, chatting with someone behind her room's door. It was doubtful she heard him come in. Granted, she'd always acknowledge him when she got off, more enthusiastically the she used to in fact, but it was sill a bit jarring; she had almost always greeted him coming in, before.

On the plus side, it gave him a flimsy excuse not ask her for… advice. He knew he needed it, but he could not see a positive outcome to asking her for it. One way or another he would be disappointed, and for all he knew she might be disappointed in him...

Still, he was getting very curious what it was she was talking about...

He laid his ear on the door, right where it was hinged to the wall.

"I'm sorry, boss. Really." She said. "I... I'm a bit rusty on the proper formatting... Yes I know I've been here long enough. I, um, I guess I'm not feeling myself lately... I was afraid of that. Can I please get a couple more sick days?"

Was mom sick? That did concern him. Either way it seemed she was in trouble at work. He wanted to hear more but he was then distracted by the ringing of the home phone.

"Mom must be using her cell." The blonde thought. "I still wish I had one..."

Answering the phone, it was his father. "Hey TK." He said. "I, ah, need to speak to your... mother. Is she available now?"

"How much should I tell him?" TK asked himself. He was feeling a bit guilty eavesdropping on mom already; sharing her secrets felt like a further step he shouldn't take.

Deciding against it he answered "She's on the phone now. What is it?"

"It's nothing. I... just needed to ask her for some advice."

"Anything I can help with?"

"No." Mr. Ishida replied. "It's work stuff. You... wouldn't be able to help."

"I'm sorry then. For what it's worth, I think mom is having a similar problem."

What did it matter at this point?

A bitter laugh came through the phone.

"Yeah, I know." dad said. "Can you just tell her to call me back next?"

"I'll do that."

* * *

**Gatomon:**

"Tick, tock, tick, tock."

That was the only sound Gatomon could hear right now. The only thing she could see was a view of the legs of a desk she saw through the hole in the bookbag. All she was able to do was listen to the clock.

Most of Kari's classes involved a lecture. At first the digimon had found them boring, but now they were beginning to fell like her only link to sanity as the day ran by. At times like now, when the students were doing classwork, she did not even have that. Her only input from the outside world were the clock, whatever minutia she could see through the hole, and maybe the scraping of pencils if she listened hard enough.

Eventually the bell rang. The period was over. Kari got up and began carrying the bag somewhere else.

"I can almost move too." She had been stuck in the bag for 8 hours now. Just one more period and she, like her partner, would be able move around again. For the last few moments she could, she decided not to dwell on what else that meant.

It had been over a month since the switch now, but still the former cat had not gotten used to being confined like this. In the years since meting Kari she had had freedom of movement like anyone else. Now… the only thing she could compare it to was life under Myotismon.

"At least I'm not getting whipped when I misbehave anymore..."

It was small comfort. She had been doing everything she could forget about the years she'd lived with him. Now it was seeming less and less distant…

The bell rang again… she could not escape it any longer...

"What does the name 'Dracula' mean?" The teacher asked.

"Son of the dragon." A student answered.

"Correct." The teacher replied. "Dragons are demonic in Christian theology."

Literature had been Gatomon's least favorite class as of late. At first it was her favorite; it was the last one, afterall. It mean she was almost free… but then then they started reading a new book. And as her freedom approached, so to did these reminders. The nightmares that plagued her had grown much more frequent as of late.

Kari had asked her, after they started this unit, if Gatomon would rather be left in Davis's room on days when the group was not going to the digital world. She had agreed to that at first, but before long the former cat was begging to come back to school instead. Myotismon had placed her in solitary confinement several times before, but even he did not do it for 9 hours a day almost every day. She was to valuable for that.

She rejoiced when the bell finally rang. It the last bell. The ordeal was finally over.

"At least until tomorrow..."

There was no trip to the digital world planned today. That was always a disappointment now. Before the switch it would have been a relief, a break from putting herself in danger. Nowadays she relished those trips like nothing else. They were the only time she wasn't confined, where she could move about the world around her with no restrictions. Moreover, they were the only time she ever felt like an adult anymore. It was like when she lost her tail ring, but ten times worse. At least as a Veemon she had limbs again. Now, stuck as a DemiVeemon… she was pathetic. It was like being a Neomon again… except now she was confined to her partner's bedroom and bookbag.

Matt said hi to Kari as they arrived at the Motomiya household. They went up to their new room and the human let her out of the bookbag. Relative freedom was upon her… but then her new body had give her one last indignity.

"Kari, um… I think I have to… use the bathroom again."

Her partner sighed. It was obvious she didn't like what would follow either.

"Let's get this over with."

The human took her digimon into the bathroom, and held her over the toilet. It was not something she had to do before the switch, but the former cat could no longer climb the john like she could in her old body. As she had dozens of times by now, she urinated there, in front of her partner. Despite attempts to put it off, she defecated there as well. Kari frowned. That required an extra step.

Gatomon had never needed to wipe herself in her old body. In the digital world, as on Earth, it was just something quadrupeds really did not need to do. She was a biped now… but she did not have the benefits of it. The stubby arms of a DemiVeemon could not handle toilet paper. Kari had to do that for her.

"I'm sorry." The digimon said.

"Don't worry about it." the human answered. She finished, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands. They were used to it by now; another day, another indignity.

That was her life now.

She remembered the first time Kari had had to wipe her, and how humiliating it felt. She did not think she would ever forget. When she found out that the switch was deliberate, these incidents became infuriating as well as humiliating. That Veemon would do that to her… the rage that engendered,… and yet…

"Son of the dragon." Gatomon thought of those words again. Even without the subject in school, it was never hard to think of the vampire that had haunted her, and of course it wasn't hard to think of the dragon that did so now. Thinking of them being related was easy, and in the beginning it had been easy to write off Veemon as little more than that. Her rage grew greater with each new humiliation, and each new day confided to a bookbag, but, as the weeks went on, it began to be replaced by a different emotion... The longer she was forced to live like that, the more she yearned for her old life back… and the less she blamed Veemon for taking it from her.

She had begun to wonder, if this had been her body to begin with, if she had been the one given the chance to escape from this lot into someone else's life… she could almost see herself taking that chance, and that was as she was now. As she was under Myotismon… it was obvious what she would have done then; she would have stolen a new life without hesitation. If Myotismon were the son of the dragon, she was its' granddaughter. The vampire had been the closest thing to a father the former cat had ever known, and she had taken after him. Now, she was a dragon in form as well.

Scary as that was… it wasn't the worst thought she'd had as of late. Matt, and especially Kari had voiced many times the fear of being trapped in their new bodies forever. Gatomon wouldn't correct them, but she knew that wasn't truly the case. All three of them, like everyone else in every world, would someday die. If they failed to regain their old bodies before then, it would not matter to her human friends anymore. Matt and Kari would be free of their new bodies, but Gatomon… that would not happen to her. She would just be reborn at Primary Village, in a form just like the one she was in now. She would be stuck in Veemon's body, truly forever.

* * *

**Kari:**

"Really Davis?" The coach asked. "That's not very sportsmanly."

"I promise that isn't the only reason." Kari responded. "I've been thinking about his for a while now. Like you said, I've been... distant lately."

"Distant" was a fair description of Kari's relationship with the boys' soccer team. Even after all these years... she was a little afraid of the sport. She had almost skipped that first practice after the switch, but she went for Davis's sake. That was before his victim new just what he had done. It was also before her failures at leading in the digital world. She was not a fan of sports, but he wanted experience, not with soccer, but with leadership. If she learned how to be captain of the team, surely she could learn how to be leader of the digidestined... right? It turned out to be a fool's task. She had been a digidestined for a third of her life, and she knew their ways well. This game, this sport she had not played in years, that she had feared for so long... she couldn't begin to handle it. She could not be the coach's right hand, like a captain should, and the coach had noticed it.

"I'm afraid I have to find a new captain," he had told her as she came to practice that day. "I'm sorry." Kari's response had been to quit the team all together. She had no other reason to be there.

"I suppose I can't stop you." The coach said. "What a shame."

Shame was indeed what Kari felt then. It was nothing new. For one reason or another that emotion had always been at arm's length since the switch.

"Yeah, it is."

She walked off then, back to the lockers. As she entered, Gatomon waddled over to her. With no one around, there was no risk for her wandering the locker-room, and it seemed obvious that she knew her partner was upset.

"What's wrong?" The digimon asked.

"I... the coach said I couldn't be captain anymore... I went ahead and quit the team."

"Kari... I'm sorry." She replied. "Hey, don't worry about that. We both know didn't like it here anyway."

"That is true."

The former cat continued. "If anything I ought to be the sad one. This locker room was one of few places I could wonder and not run into anyone."

Those words had the opposite effect of what Gatomon had intended. It was one more thing for Kari to be ashamed of.

Her partner caught on to that quickly. "I... I'm sorry. Really it's okay. I do honestly prefer going home with you to anyway. Don't worry about it."

She then changed the subject. "You're still the leader of the digidestined, even if your aren't of this team. Isn't that more important? Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

That was still true...

"Thank you," Kari sighed. She changed into her casual clothes.

They left then. With Gatomon in her book bag Kari began walking back toward her new apartment. The way was similar to the route she had taken before the switch, in that the easiest route meant passing in front of the high school Tai and Matt went to. Normally its students were still in class when Kari walked by. After trips to the digital world or her recent soccer practices, they had already left. Today, however, was a bit different. The aborted club had added just enough time to her trip that today she arrived just as the high school kids were beginning to leave, filling the side walk as she passed the gate. This would likely have been trivial... had she not noticed a certain face among them... Matt's.

It was not the true Matt. Kari must have missed him in the crowd, but Jun in his body was easily visible. Kari found herself following her then. It wasn't on purpose at first; they were simply going the same direction. But, when Jun did finally make a turn Kari wouldn't have, on a whim she turned with her. By then, the other students around them had begun to thin out. A thought that Kari had buried for a long while was coming back to her...

The new gogglehead had contemplated taking the ring from Jun by force. It wasn't serious at first; it just didn't seem practical. She did not think she could take on Matt's body, even in Davis's, even if Matt in Jun's body helped her. Her partner would also be no help as a DemiVeemon.

That last part, though... it lead her to thinking. She knew an in-training couldn't take out the average human, but it seemed like a Rookie could... and it was obvious a champion could do it easily. As the crowd thinned even further she reached her hand around to her bookbag, feeling where her lunchbox was. It was still there, the energy drink she had bought. The thought of getting Gatomon to digivolve to Veemon with coffee had been given to her the night they switched. She did not know what the Motomiyas had done with the coffee machine since she put the pot back, but she didn't need to. A few sips of Red Bull would do as well. Then add the digi-egg of courage and it was plain Jun could not guard her ring from them even if she were in the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"Kari, what are you doing?" Gatomon whispered from within the bag. "This isn't the way home."

"It might be." Her partner replied. "Be quite, please, until we're alone. I might be able to get us our bodies back."

Kari half expected the former cat to scream with joy or at least loudly beg more details, but she turned out to be wiser than that, and stayed silent. She knew as well as her human not to mess this up.

They continued to creep after Jun, and she seemed not to notice them. At one point she pulled out Matt's cell phone and made a call that Kari couldn't hear, but she never stopped walking and never so much as glanced behind her. Soon they were the only students left... could it really be about to happen? Were they really about to be alone together?

If that happened she was home free. Her partner could seize the ring as Flamedramon and this nightmare would be over. She would have undeniable proof of what had happened to them. Tai would have to believe her if she could demonstrate the rings' power. Davis would finally be exposed.

Kari glanced around. There were still people around. For a second the hope that had been building in her began to wane. She dared not have a digimon attack a human in plain public view, she owed as much to the digital world.

The former girl sighed. That was not the only thing see had feared about this idea. The potential of breaking their vows to Gennai, that had not been the reason she could not bring herself to propose the idea to Matt. She feared for his safety. For the same reasons a champion could certainly overtake a human, it was likely to send said human to the hospital. The thought of sending Matt back to his body only for it to be crippled... How could she ask him to endure that? How could she do that to him now, without even asking?

Then it happened. Jun made a turn, not into another street, but an alley between buildings. Shadowy and secluded, it was the perfect place. The ambush could happen and no one else would be the wiser.

"It has to be fate." Kari thought. "Why else would she do that?"

It had been like with MetalGreymon. The soon-to-be-restored girl still did not understand what Tai had told Davis, but she had seen its results. While she had hesitated, he had attacked, and now Agumon was free. Even if she could not agree with the method, it was clear that Matt did; he had helped the attack. Surely he would not be so hypocritical as to shrink from that when his own body was on the line. Then again, was Kari? If the situation were reversed, and Matt were ordering his partner to potentially wreck her body... the thought horrified her. How would that have made him any better than Davis? How would it make Kari herself any better if she did it now?

"I didn't steal anyone's life for one." She quickly thought. "All I'd be doing is using his trick against him..."

She tapped the book bag, and whispered to Gatomon. "Drink the energy drink. You need to digivolve now. We're about to ambush Jun in an alley."

The soon-to-be restored cat gasped, but she did not object. The sound of a can cracking open followed. She was doing it. It was really about to happen.

Kari came to the edge of the alleyway. All that was needed now was to keep Jun occupied until the digivolution. She was sure she could talk that into being. She took a step inward and saw her target halfway through.

"Hey, Jun! I think Matt wants to talk to you!"

That was what she was going to say. Her tongue was forming the first syllable, but then other words came from behind her.

"Hey Kari. What's up?"

The voice was her own. The one Davis had taken from her. She turned around, and there he was, staring at her with a fake grin. Veemon was next to him. It was over before it began.

"Um... nothing?"

No, it couldn't be over! Surely she could talk her way out of this. If she could get Davis to leave maybe she'd have another opportunity...

"Don't play dumb." the villain said. "I know you're stalking Jun."

"Serves her right; I know how she treated Matt even before all this." She thought. She knew better than to say it.

"What are you talking about? I'm just, um... headed home from school."

"Kari, I know where your home is; I used to live there. You're not going that way" The thief said. "Jun called me because she thought someone was following her. I had a feeling it was you."

"How did she know I was following her?" Kari thought. The other thief had not even turned around the whole time…

Did it matter? Could she still take the ring even with Davis and Veemon trying to stop her? The former girl almost laughed at the idea; it was that absurd. There was no way to conceal a fight between champions, and even if there was, it was plain who would win this particular encounter. Gatomon still hadn't digivolved. If Veemon moved now... that was it. There was no way an in-training could stop him. Could she stall until the drink was digested? That was what she had planned to do with Jun anyway.

Then she noticed the ring on her partner's stolen tail. Yolie and Sora had told the others what that red jewelry had done. If Gatomon digiovled right now... it wouldn't matter. Veemon was a fully realized champion. The same advantage still applied.

"DemiVeemon digivolve to, Veemon!"

The cry came from her bookbag then as if to mock her. Still, if she could stall for a Rookie digivolution, maybe she could for an armor digivolution to? Desprite, she began to reach for her D-Terminal.

"Stop right there." Davis said. His partner bore Gatomon's claws. "Unless your arm is faster than falling meteorite, you wouldn't be able to do that in time."

Kari dropped her hand. She looked around. The idea of engaging Veemon was even dumber than she had thought before now. There were still plenty of people around to witness the fight, and she quickly realized that this mattered to her a lot more to her than Davis. A cat clawing at kid would be one thing in the public's eyes but a fiery dragon? Every conceivable advantage was with the villains right now. What had she even been thinking? First she had compromised hurting Matt's body and now this oversight! What was wrong with her?

"Please," his victim said "please don't threaten me. We're friends aren't we? There's no need for this."

"You mean like you were doing to my sister?" He replied. "That's quite a thing for you to say after you were going to ambush your friends' old body. Honestly, I'm surprised at you. I knew you were the selfish one, but I didn't think it was this bad."

"Selfish!?" Kari gasped. It was the first time she had ever been called that, and coming from him... "How can you call me selfish? You're the one that stole my body!"

"No," Davis replied. "you were about to steal my body."

"You know it isn't yours. I was born in that body. It's always been mine."

"No, it's mine." He countered. "You were born in it, but I deserve it. Haven't you seen that by now? I'm a better Kari than you, a better sister. Just ask Tai."

She stood there awestruck for a second. "Wha... what are you talking about?"

"When was the last time you hung out with Tai? Not just ate dinner with him and your parents, I mean did something together you both enjoyed? Have you done that at all since the switch?"

"I..." Kari stuttered. "I haven't."

"Of course you haven't" He replied. "What about before switch?"

"Well, a couple months ago..."

Davis cut her off. "A couple months ago! Really? You hadn't hung out with your own brother for close to month before the switch? That is worse than I thought. I know I did that multiple times a week before, and now that the switch has happened I do it every day. You two have nothing in common, and I have everything in common with him. You were a terrible match with Tai, and I'm a great one. Surely you've seen it, those times you came and visited. Was he ever as happy around you as he is around me? Why would you want to take that away from him? Why would you put your happiness ahead of his?"

"He... I..."

"Your silence speaks volumes." He continued. "Face it, you were never the sibling I am to him. I deserve him and you don't. I wish you had been there when I joined the girls' soccer team. I wish you had heard him call me the best sister ever. For him, I am that. You just quit the guys' team, didn't you?"

"I… yes…" Kari sutured.

"Figures" Davis responded. "I knew you would at some point, and you aren't at practice today. Tai would be so disappointed in me if I had done that. It's how we met and how we first bonded, and you just threw it away! Heck, the last time you tried to play soccer with him you almost died, didn't you? It literally almost killed you trying to make him proud! That's amazing. Stop pretending you're worthy of being his sibling and go suck up to Matt like TK!"

Kari burst out crying right then. She wanted to deny him, but the tears were the only words she could find.

Expressionlessly, Davis glanced around. People were beginning to stare at the crying" boy" at the edge of the alley. Following his glance into the shade, it become apparent Jun was long gone. The game was truly over. As if he were not the cause of her tears, the villain just walked by her, pretending not to notice.

Kari sat there on the street and continued to wail. Several would come up and tried to comfort her, but there was nothing any of them could say that could possibly help.

"Is it true?" She thought to herself multiple times. It couldn't be. Surely it couldn't be... and yet she could think of a good counterargument. She just sat there, weeping.

* * *

**Davis:**

"Look guys, an escape pod!" Patamon called

The digdestined looked over toward him. Sure enough, there was a tiny submarine poking out of the tower. That being said...

"It only has one seat though." Yolie complained "and not enough room for anyone else."

It was true. Even if one of them escaped, most of them would remain here beneath the oil rig where an enslaved MegaSeadramon had trapped them. Sooner or later they would run out of air.

"I need to be the one in that pod." Davis thought.

"We can use this pod to get help." Kari said. "One of us can escape and send for Joe and Ikakumon."

"Cody should do it." TK interjected. "He's the youngest. If worse comes to worse, well..."

The blonde did not seem to have the stomach to finish that thought. Davis decided to finish it for him.

"Women and children first, right?" He said.

"Eh, that's kind of sexist." Yolie said. "But I do think it should be Cody. If nothing else he knows Joe better than any of the rest of us."

"One of you should go." Cody cried out. "I don't deserve it. It's my fault we're stuck here in the first place!"

"That's still baloney." Davis thought. Never the less, it was a good opportunity. "You heard him." He said. "One of us should go."

"We can draw for it." Yolie replied. She started rummaging through her bookbag. "But ALL of us are doing it."

When her hand came up the edges of strings were poking out of it.

"One of these has a red tip." She said. "Whoever draws that can leave in the escape pod."

"That looks like a lot more than 5 strings." Davis complained. He quickly counted them. "Why are there ten?"

"She said ALL of us'" Gatomon protested. "Five humans and five digimon make ten."

"Why do the digimon get a shot? You guys get to be reborn if we run out of oxygen. Us humans don't."

Most of the digimon stared at him when he said that. He could tell none of them liked it, but then again none of them raised an objection. Some of his human teammates seemed displeased though.

"Oh ye of little faith." Kari mumbled.

Fortunately, Yolie seemed not to be. "That is true." She said as he lowered her hand back into her bag. "Come to think of it, they wouldn't be able to reach out to Joe on Earth anyway." She pulled her hand out with five strings sticking out.

"That just doubled my odds." The former leader thought happily.

The bespectacled girl walked over to Cody. "You get first pick."

Suddenly, that seemed a bit suspicious to Davis...

The small boy glared at her, but he silently pulled out a string. The tip was red. The first string to be drawn was red.

The former leader ran over, and yanked out all the strings from the other girl's hand. Sure enough, they were all red tipped.

"I knew that was a scam!" He yelled.

"Of course it was a scam!" Cody bawked. "How much more obvious could it have been? Did anyone here really not guess that?"

"I guessed it." TK said. Most of the digimon nodded in agreement, so with all of the other humans accounted for the rest directed their eyes toward "Davis."

"I... um, didn't" Kari admitted embarrassed.

"I got the riddle and Kari didn't?" the actual Davis thought. "Has that ever happened before? Wait... am I smarter in this body?"

It was another riddle for another day. First thing was first.

"Why did you do that, Yolie?" he asked.

"Come on Kari, you know he needs to be the one. He is the youngest, and he's closest to Joe anyway."

"I'm not going!" Cody yelled again.

"You heard him! I volunteer to go instead. Women and children first, and the youngest child doesn't want to go. Also, you don't count because you cheated, so that just leaves me."

The other girl just looked at him amazed.

"Kari, I've never seen you like this before. Please stop."

After all he had committed to keep his new body, he couldn't have it die.

"I have to live." Davis pleaded. "If I die here, Tai will be devastated. My parents too." Jun would be as well, but he knew better than to add that.

"That's just mean." Yolie countered. "I have a family too. We all do. Stop being this selfish or I won't vote for you."

"Vote for you?" TK questioned.

Davis knew what that meant, even if his rival did not. If he pushed any further he would loose Yolie's support for leadership. That would sting...

"What does it matter if we all die in here anyway?" He thought.

Still... the thing she said before that was getting to him. As much as he loved Tai, he knew the others had families that would miss them to. He could not take that from them.

"If I didn't have this body now," He thought "I suppose it wouldn't matter anyway. If we are going to die, Tai would have lost Kari anyway."

"I'm sorry." He finally said. "You're right. Cody should go."

"I already said I'm not going!" He roared in response. "If you want to go so bad, take my seat and go!"

"That is non-negotiable at this point." The former leader responded.

"You wouldn't dare!"

TK looked over at the new leader, as if looking approval. It seemed Kari did at least understand what this was, but she did she did not respond to it. It did not seem she would give the approval to force the boy into the pod.

Yolie sighed. "TK, please do it." Davis nodded in agreement. Seeing their consent, TK grabbed Cody and began pulling him to the pod.

"You let me go now!" The small boy yelled. "Armadillomon help!"

"Sorry, partner." The digimon replied "It's for your own good."

"Davis, call him off!"

Kari looked down. "I'm sorry guys."

Cody kept looking at her, hoping that meant she was about to rule in his favor, but she did not. That was all she said. She wouldn't approval of the force, but she wouldn't stop it either. Within the minute, the escape pod ejected, along with Cody.

Yolie sighed. She looked over at Davis and said "I forgive you by the way. Even without THAT, I don't think I could stay mad at you anyway."

Davis figured THAT was the current leader's indecision.

"Good to hear."

There was not much to do will they waited for Cody's return. Before long the group was just sitting down silently. In that silence, a thought occurred to Davis.

"I shouldn't have let him go. Even if they have families I'll still be missed more. What does Cody have, a mom and grandpa? I have both of those things, a dad, Tai, and heck, even Jun still in Matt's body."

He looked around the room. It quickly became obvious how true that was. Kari, in her current body, only really had his old parents to mourn her. Why should he value his old parents feelings over his new? The Motomiyas would morn their child the same as the Kamiyas, and there were no siblings to consider; Matt in Jun's body couldn't count at this point. For that matter, why should any of their parents count over his? Heck, TK's dad had straight up left him. The divorced parents obviously did not love their children as much as his, and should not count at all while they were on the table. Kari, TK, Cody, none of them had serious bids next to his. Only Yolie seemed to resonate at all in his mind. He had Tai and Jun to worry about, unlike the others, but how many siblings did Yolie say she had? 3? That seemed to imply more people would mourn her even than "Kari."

"No," he scoffed at that. "All three of them together could not possible have the bond with her that Tai has with me. I should have been the one to leave! Why did I have to let that brat go before me?"

He laughed bitterly. It was just like before, except, opposite. Before, back on the night he first arrived in this body, he had lied to Kari on an impulse to keep her opinion of him high. That impulse had payed off spectacularly. He never would have thought to keep this body and everything it gave him and his partner without that dark impose. Now a nicer impulse had put all he had gained, and even his own life in jeopardy. How could he have been stupid enough to listen to it?

"I wouldn't be me otherwise."

He sighed. Despite all of that he still knew he had done the right thing. Was he really going to renounce the will to do a good dead? He couldn't do that. He was the good guy, afterall.

Still, he was kind of impressed he'd been able to reason out that justification. It reminded him of how he had seen Yolie's trick coming and Kari hadn't. The former boy knew it ought to have been the other way around. Now as before, he realized that he had to have become smarter, that or Kari became dumber, and that could only be because of the switch.

"It makes sense" The former boy thought. "I guess I have Kari's brain now too if I have her body.

Even if he still had all his old memories, it was logical that a better brain might be able to process new information better. He remembered how much better the computer in his new room was than his old one. It seemed the computer is his head was a lot better too...

"Awesome!" He thought. This, however, made him worry about loosing it more...

"It was the right thing to do." He had to tell himself that.

A loud crack then filled the air.

"TK, what are you doing?" Kari's new voice asked.

Davis turned to see his rival digging away.

"If we're stuck here until Cody gets back, I don't want to just sit around and wait for him." His old rival said. "There's a digiegg here. I say we find it!"

No one objected.

"For once, he actually had a good idea!" the former leader thought.

The whole group, human and digimon, began assisting in the digging. Davis did not know how long it took, but eventually the boy who started the dig called out "Hey guys, I think I found it!"

Sure enough, the blonde had unearthed what obviously must have been a digiegg. He tried lift it up but couldn't.

"I guess it's not mine." TK said. Uneasily, he turned to Kari and asked "um, you wanna try it, Davis?"

"Davis" nodded and attempted to lift the egg as well. She too failed.

"Figures..." She mumbled.

"I guess that means it belongs to Cody." The Christian pointed out. "He's the only other one without a second digiegg."

"How do we know I don't get a third?" Davis thought. He decided not to share it.

"Doesn't that mean I get a new digivolution?" Armadillomon asked.

"Sure does!" Patamon said "Lucky you!"

The armadillo smiled, obviously liking the thought of that.

"I bet I get to be some gallant knight in shining armor, with beautiful flowing hair."

Somehow that did not seem likely to Davis.

"Nah, that'd be to different from what you are now. Most digivolutions seem pretty similar." He said. "I bet you'll just get bigger and grow spikes like a porcupine.

"I hope he's the handsome one." Yolie japed, feigning a whisper into "Kari's" ear.

The whole group burst out laughing.

"Hey maybe," Davis said correcting himself "now that you mention it, my partner went from a cat to a rabbit and yours went from a bird to a ninja. Who knows?"

"Harpoon Torpedo!"

Their conversation was immediately cut off as the room filled with the sound of a battle happening outside. The group ran over to the window. Sure enough, Ikakumon was engaging MegaSeadramon as they had hoped for. Cody, it seemed, had been successful.

"That's the way! Aim for the dark spiral!"

That being said, the engagement didn't seem to be going to favorably.

"Lightning Javelin!"

As quickly as he arrived, Joe's partner was the one being pushed back.

"This isn't good." TK said. "Ikakumon's fought a MegaSeadramon before, but then he got to digivolve again into Zudamon."

"All he has to do is break the spiral." Patamon said. "Surely he can do that, right?"

"It would help a lot if he had some help..." Hawkmon murmured.

It was then that the platform began shaking, and a giant whale's head burst through the wall.

"Is that, Whamon?" TK clamored.

"In the flesh," the digimon said. As it opned it's mouth Joe and Cody were revealed within it.

"Hey guys, good to see you again." Joe greeted. "I had Tentomon find an old friend."

"It's the fastest way to the surface… even if it is a bit smelly." The younger kid continued "Get in while MegaSeadramon is distracted."

As far as they had come already, there was still one more thing to do.

"Before we go, you need to come down here and get the digiegg." Davis said pointing toward it. "We found it buried in here, and it looks like it's for you."

Seeing the egg Joe said "Hey, it has the crest of reliability on it. That's a great fit for you, Cody."

"Yeah," TK agreed "You got us our way out of here, just like we knew you would."

"Not it isn't." Was the reply. "If I hadn't wanted that egg this wouldn't have happened in the first place, besides, I had to tell a lie to get that help!"

"Really?" Davis asked. "You're upset because you had to lie to get to Joe?"

"Yes!" Cody wailed. "My grandpa says there is nothing worse than telling a lie!"

He instantly burst out laughing. Davis could not restrain himself from laughing hysterically right there.

"Wha… why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry, buddy, but this is just hilarious." Davis said. "Lying really?  _That's_  the worst thing your grandpa could think of? I think dying is a lot worse."

Looking around the group was staring at him, especially Kari in his old body.

"Of course she wouldn't understand." The former leader thought.

"Well, he's right you know." Joe said. "Some lies hurt people, but others, like the one you told to get to me, really help or even save people. That sort of lie is acceptable."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Davis agreed. "It was the right thing to do. Sometimes, that isn't the nice thing."

"Do you really mean that?" the youngest asked.

"Of course."

"I… thank you."

It was then that the digiegg started glowing. Levitating from its spot, the egg flew into Cody's hands.

"See?" The oldest said. "I told you it was meant your you."

The group cheered to that.

"Thank you everyone." Cody said. "I… Armadillomon and I will help Ikakumon! Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to Submarimon, Guardian fo the Sea."

"A submarine?" Davis asked. "That's… convenient… shame it kills my idea of a porcupine though."

His next though was "Also, the hot guy… that's a shame too..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes, this time both for this and the fanfiction.net version, can be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/185541424092/httpswwwfanfictionnets1126211611where-the


	12. Summer and Winter

**Veemon:**

Once again the new cat stared at his tail as he sat on the tree branch. This time, he liked what he saw. The red gemmed ring that had brought him into this body was red all over, like it had been in the fight against Starmon, and this time it was painted to stay that way.

"Looking good, Gatomon." His former rival said. "I'm glad Kari got that new ring for you."

"Thanks. I am too."

It was not the first time Patamon had complimented the new accessory. Still, it was appreciated. Even days later, he still couldn't get over how the new ring made him feel... and in a few minutes he would get to experience it to its fullest again.

"How has Kari been doing, anyway?" the yellow digimon asked "She hasn't had anymore nightmares about that... thing lately, has she?"

"No, thank goodness no!"

Veemon had asked his partner the same question for several nights after the Dark Ocean rescue. His answer had always been "no." They still didn't know anything about that world's mysterious master, but, for now at least, its interest in them seemed to have passed.

"Thanks for asking, how's TK, anyway?"

His partner flustered a bit before answering.

"I... I don't know." He began. "He... tells me everything is alright, but I can't help but think he's been really sad these last few weeks... I think it started the same night Kari was kidnapped."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The new cat replied. "Do you think he's being targeted by that... Dragomon too?"

"I really hope not." Patamon said. "I don't think he's having nightmares. He's sleeping fine, more than usual in fact... I really don't know what to make of it. It's like he's avoiding half the humans in his life: Kari, Davis, even his mom. I wish he would tell me what's up."

That TK would avoid Kari and Davis did not seem odd at this point. He had never been on good terms with the leader, and now "Kari" was beginning to act in kind. Veemon did not know what to think about the mother, though.

"I wish I knew what to tell you." He said. "Sorry about that too."

The last school bell rang then.

"Don't worry about it." Patamon said. "It's not your fault anyway. Let's... just go home."

They turned his attention to the computer lab's window. There was no planed trip to the digital world today, so Patamon would be going straight home with his partner. The blonde boy came below the tree when it looked like all the other kids had left and held up his opened bookbag. That was the cue to go.

The flying digimon turned then to his companion and said "I guess I'm going now. See you later."

"See you tomorrow."

He flew down into the bookbag, and then his human sealed it up and walked off silently. On the off chance someone had seen "something" fall into the bag, TK speaking up into the tree would have been made the situation worse. Normally Gatomon, or nowadays Veemon, would climb down and be picked up by their partner too, but today the new Kari had soccer practice, the last practice before the summer break. The new cat had the next few hours to himself.

Leaping from the tree, he landed gracefully. It was time. Now he could experience just what his ring had done for him. He ran toward the school, and in one running jump, he was on its roof.

"Veemon could NEVER do that."

Gatomon could not either, or at least she could not without her tail ring. With it... The former dragon recalled a story Tai had told him and Davis about the original cat leaping up to punch Greymon in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. Veemon did not have a dinosaur to punch out, but he could make as great a leap as easily now as he could twiddle his old fingers.

He leaped again, from the school roof to the next building. If not as a Veemon, he could have made that jump as Flamedramon, though probably with less graceful landing. That was a warm up now. Running across the roof he made another running jump and landed on another roof two blocks down. That even Flamedramon could not has done, and it was now what the former dragon could do all the time.

The new cat had taken several trips downtown over the last week. There was more to see, much more. From what his partner had said, a city the size of Tokyo would take a very long time to explore in full. He felt that he could do it now, with the increased mobility the ring gave him, and intended to do exactly that. First, though, he wanted to get an idea of just how long it would take. He wanted to see the edge of the city.

The school was close to the harbor; the human children could walk there easily. He was headed the other way now, leaping his multiple block leaps, and stopping every now and again to take in the scenery. It continued to take his breath away. Mount Fuji alone was enough to do that on a clear day like this. Add to that the sites of the city itself and it hard not to appreciate the journey. Hours latter, the buildings began to thin out. He leaped down and started running. That seemed to be faster with fewer things in the way. Eventually the city gave way to country side...

"Moo!"

The former dragon turned to the sound of that noise. He saw, on the other side of a fence, a herd of strange black and white animals... He started at one of them and it seemed to stare back.

"Hello there?" He asked.

"Moooooo!"

"I guess they don't talk either."

Veemon had never seen an animal before he switch, baring a few insects that made it into Davis's room. Even since then, the only ones he'd really gotten to interact with were stray cats. The dogs, pigeons and rodents were all pretty hostile to his new feline form. He stared at this new animal this... "cow," the word coming to him now that he saw it, and for a brief moment, the animal stared back at him. It's interest quickly waned in him, and it began to graze, but Veemon still appreciated the experience. He spent a few minutes watching the herd.

The sky began to turn red then, as the sun started to set. This too felt like a new experience for white cat. He remembered the first time he had seen the human world's sun set, while he was out in this body. That feeling he had then was coming back to him. After all these weeks, the image begun to become mundane to him, but now, seeing it set over the fields rather than the cityscape and its many lights... it might have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He cried there. It was the first time he had ever shed tears of joy.

As the sun finished setting he realized he would be headed home at night. That didn't bother him; he had found his feline body had excellent night vision. It did mean he would be very late getting back, but he didn't think Davis would worry to much. It wasn't the first time he'd stayed out late since the ring was painted, and his partner had been okay with it then.

He looked at the ring. It was almost the same color as the sun was now. That suited it well. Davis had told him that the human world revolved around the sun. That suited it too; his world, it now revolved around that ring. First it had given him this body, this freedom he had never known, and now... now it had taken that freedom to new heights. The power of a champion, of an adult... he had been Flamedramon so infrequently that it almost felt like a dream. Now he lived it everyday. It was his life.

"I've grown up now, haven't I?"

* * *

 

**TK:**

It was the last day of school before summer vacation. It ought to have been the most joyous day a kid could have all year. To be fair, his current mood was a lot better than it had been the day before. But compared to how it had been a month before...

As usual, the Christian was melancholy as he walked home from school. The newborn vacation almost seemed hollow.

And yet, for more reasons than that vacation, things were more than a bit unusual when he opened his apartment door.

"Da... dad?"

The man in his living room chuckled awkwardly, but, nonetheless, his reply was "Hey, son, good to see you… again."

Matt was with him. They had been sitting on the sofa when TK came in. Had Mr Ishaida just brought his son to see their mother? Why would he do that when Matt had a car?

"Wha... what are you doing here?"

His father sighed.

"Listen, TK, your... mother and I... some... complications are happening at work. We decided... it might be better if we at arms' length from each other for the time being, to help each other out. I... Matt and I will be staying here for a while."

"Oh my god."

"I..." The blonde boy struggled to speak for several seconds "are you saying you're moving in with us?".

Matt nodded. Their father seemed not to notice and said. "I... we aren't committing to that yet. Hopefully... um, these problems will resolve themselves soon, one way or another."

Mom came out of her room them. Noticing TK she said "Hey son, welcome home."

"I..." Once again he struggled to form a reply. Instead he just ran up and embraced her. "Thank you, mom. Thank you so much."

"You... you're welcome, son."

Matt and father joined in, putting the family in a group hug. It was the first time TK could remember that ever happening. It was the first time in years he'd even had the chance.

"Thanks too, dad."

"You're welcome." He replied.

"You're welcome too." Matt said under his breath.

TK did not know how long it lasted, but eventually the hug broke away. It could only have been a few seconds. Probably it was less than one, but it felt like eternity. He was in heaven, in paradise once again.

When it did end, mother addressed father "um... I think I need you now."

He only nodded in reply. They both turned toward the office, but dad turned back and said "See you again in a minute." Then the door closed behind them.

TK sat on he coach then, almost collapsing onto it. For a minute he was speechless again.

"Oh my god." he finally said.

He looked up to his brother.

"Matt, am I dreaming? Is this really happening?"

"It's happening, little bro. Our parents are really getting back together."

The smile on the older boy's face was ear to ear. The younger could not see his own face. But he had to imagine it look like that too.

Still, it was to good to be true.

"They said they weren't committing to that... just until... whatever was happening at work was over."

Matt chuckled. "I think you're being pessimistic. I think they are staying together, permanently."

"Really?'

"Of course. Their marriage is stronger now than ever."

TK couldn't believe it, and his brother seemed to pick up on it.

"They've said they need each-other, haven't they?" He said. "That sounds like bonding to me. If they are in trouble, They're in the same trouble. That has to count for something, doesn't it? People bond over that all the time."

The little brother could not argue with that. He had worried about the problems his mom seemed to be having... but now... if this was what came of it...

"It's my dream come true..."

Somehow, all of his worries seemed to melt away then.

He didn't know if Matt was right or not, but, for now at least, it didn't matter. Summer was here again, and so was a new season of his life. Maybe fall return someday, but this could only be the best summer ever.

* * *

 

**Davis:**

"Hey Kari." Mrs. Hida said as she answered the door. "I haven't seen you in a while. What's up?"

"Not much," Davis replied. "I just wanted to chat with Cody."

"Come on in."

The former boy was lead into his friend's living room.

"My son is practicing kendo with his grandpa right now." the host said. "I can take you down there, or you can wait here."

"I'll wait here; that's fine."

"Make yourself at home."

He sat down on the couch while the mother left. Now he would wait.

He had already asked Tai to make him the younger kids' leader, but the older leader was a bit hesitant.

"I wouldn't want to meddle in a group I'm not a part of." He had said.

"Not even for your sister?"

"We aren't a royal family." Tai replied. "You weren't there when the first group picked me. I had to earn that position, and when I gave him the googles, Davis was the only one who could armor digivolve. You and TK think of me as leader, but the rest of the group... they've only ever known Davis in that role. Besides, I wouldn't want to just take it from him like that."

It was fairly close to what the former boy had said to Yolie. As such, he had a good counter in mind already.

"Plan B" He thought. He said "What if the others saw me as the leader, like the older kids did with you. I know Yolie does. She told me as much herself."

It was very clear Tai was surprised by that.

"If that is true, I won't stop it, heck I'd be proud of you." He had replied. "If a majority of the younger kids acknowledge you, that's worth more than anything I could ever say."

It wasn't... not to Davis. His idol's approval had always meant a lot to him... now it meant everything. Even beyond that, there was another potential hurdle he needed it for. Even if he did get the others to acknowledge him... he wasn't sure if Kari would stand down. He thought she would, but just in case...

"What if Davis won't give up his goggles?"

"I'll talk to him if that happens." Tai had said. "I'm positive he'll yield if I do."

So was Davis.

As he had then, the former boy now reviewed his options. A majority of the new digidestened was only 3 out of 5, and Yolie and himself already made 2. If only one more kid favored him, that would make it happen. Kari was a no go, so that left TK or Cody. As much as he would love TK to finally acknowledge him, that seemed to be a no go too. Even in a new body it was clear there old rivalry was still in play. That just left Cody...

Eventually the smaller boy came into the room, still in his kendo outfit along with a similarly dressed man, presumptuously his grandfather.

"Kari?" He asked, taking off his mask.

"That's me." The new Kari said. "I wanted to talk to you, um... about private matters."

Cody seemed to gather that meant "digidestined matters" as intended. His grandfather did not.

"What sort of 'private matters' are these, little girl." He said.

"I promise it's not that." The young boy said. "It's just some stuff for our club."

"Very well." The old man replied. "I trust you would never lie to me. Would you Cody?"

"I... of course not."

The shame was clear in his eyes for a second, but only for a second. His grandfather seemed not to notice at all.

"Atta boy, Cody" Davis thought.

The elder left then, leaving them alone.

"What is it, Kari?"

"What do you think about Davis's leadership?" He went ahead and asked.

"I... honestly I've had problems with it since the beginning. He's really reckless, nothing like a leader is supposed to be."

"Gee, thanks a lot." the former Davis thought. It did not imply good things about his approval before now. It had always been obvious TK disapproved. Looking back, it seemed logical Cody would too, similar as he was to the other boy. Yolie had always been with him though, even if she didn't know who "him" was anymore, and obviously, so was Davis himself. Where had Kari been before all this? The former leader knew Kari never wanted to date him, but he never got the impression she wanted to dethrone him either. Did he ever have the group's approval, or was only running off Tai's reputation?

Somehow, that thought did not bother him as much it could have. It made him more impressed with Tai, and more proud to be his sister. Still, it did bother him. If Kari had been the swing vote keeping him on power all this time, surely she was lost to him now. For a split second, he doubted his own ability.

"What does it matter?" He thought, shrugging off his doubts, "What do any of there opinions matter next to Tai's? If he thinks I should be leader, none of them get to say otherwise."

Ironically, Cody's opinion made for a decent opportunity.

The smaller boy's temperament was largely the opposite of Yolie's. The nerdy girl had never hesitated to scoff at a plan she did not like, but at the end of the day, she went with it, eagerly it would often seem. She was a lot closer to him, a lot more "reckless," and would easily forgive such. After all, it "got things done." Cody did not see it that way; the attitude Yolie seemed to appreciate was a turn off rather than a plus. That was a blessing and a cruse right now. On the one hand, it might make the recent hesitation "Davis" had shown look better. Still, that hesitation had lead to failure, and there was one key failure of hers to come to mind.

"I know." The former boy said. "It's getting worse lately isn't it? Yolie told me he lead you guys right into an obvious trap."

When her own life was on the line the selfish girl had proven reckless in her own way, putting her teammates in danger for her own sake.

"He did." The small boy sighed.

"Why didn't you say something before then?" the aspiring gogglehead asked.

"I didn't want to disrespect him." The small boy said. "It would have been like talking back to a teacher, or to mom. Grandpa says I shouldn't do that."

"You really are his grandson." Davis thought. It made the deal sweeter, he quickly realized. Even if he didn't approve of "Kari" anymore than the previous gogglehead, he wouldn't open his mouth now either.

"What if I were the leader?" He asked.

"Can you do that?" Cody replied.

"I can. We aren't a monarchy after-all." Davis said. "I already talked with Tai about it. If most of us wanted someone else to be leader, he would endorse them. Yolie told me I should be leader, and, well, not to be arrogant, but I kind of liked the idea. If you agreed to it too, that would be a majority."

Cody dipped his head, thinking. He paused for a moment.

Eventually he lifted his head up and said "You know what? I think that is a good idea. You'd make a great leader!"

Davis smiled deeply. "Thank you, Cody." He said. "The googles are as good as mine."

They made small talk for several minute after that, and then the soon to be restored leader said his goodbyes.

"Tai is going to be so proud of me!" It was all he could think as he walked back to his apartment. "I'm the best sister ever! And now, with my new brain, I'll be a better leader than ever!"

"Even if the ingrates don't deserve me!" He said to himself.

Obviously, it was the first thing he told his idol when he got home.

"Wow, I... did not expect that to happen so quickly. I'm really impressed."

"Thank you, big brother. Thank you so much!"

"Don't worry about it, Kari, you earned it." He replied.

They reveled together for hours after that. Most of it was Tai giving the soon to be restored gogglehead leadership pointers. Davis had heard most of them before, especially after he'd first gotten the googles, but he did not mind hearing them repeated. Quite the opposite, in fact, it felt like getting his title all over again.

Eventually, a tip was cut off by "Sis, what's that on your… um... crotch?"

Davis could tell from the tone that it was like to be something awkward. He looked down. Sure enough there was a dark spot in the jeans he was wearing. Putting his hand to the spot, it felt wet.

It took him a minute to process what was happening.

"Is this..." he finally said "a period?"

He instantly blushed in embarrassment. Looking up he saw Tai doing the same.

"Um, excuse me."

The new girl ran off to the bathroom and checked. Sure enough, that was what was happening.

"Good gods..."

A knock quickly came at the door.

"You okay in there, honey?" Mrs. Kamiya asked.

"I... I think I am." Davis whimpered. "I think... I think I'm having my first period. Could you, um... help me?"

"Of course, Kari!" His mother replied. She came in then and found a sanitary pad for him. "I'm so proud of you!" She continued. "You know what this means, don't you? You're a woman now!"

"A woman."

He remembered the day he found out periods were a thing, back when Jun started having them. At first he was just told some family was coming over and he had to eat with them. He had assumed it was for his own birthday party, coming up a few weeks later. When the family came early he guessed the celebration was just to last longer than normal. He had seen the balloons his parents had brought in, despite their attempts to hide them. But then, when the day came, his sister was at the head of the table with her friends, and everyone was celebrating her. It had almost felt like she had taken his birthday party from him, and he was stuck sitting through it. He was more than a bit jealous. He did not know what a period was then, let alone the party Japanese families traditional threw for it.

"Don't worry Davis," his mother had said. "We're still doing you birthday party next week. This is different. You sister has become an adult now."

"That's really cool." He remembered asking. "When do I get a party like this?"

Half the guests had laughed at him them, Jun most of all. His jealousy grew to new heights then. Now...

"Mom," he asked. "could we order some sekihan?"

"Feeling a bit old fashioned, Kari?" Mrs. Kamiya replied.

"Please? I'd really like to have the party."

"Alright. How can I say no to you?"

When Davis was alone again, all he could do was think on what was happening.

"I really am a girl now."

He had never felt out of place in his old, male body. At first, he did feel that way in his new female body, even after he accepted it, but now, now it seemed… right, not a cost to his sibling bond with Tai, but another perk to it.

"No, I'm a woman."

She realized now those past fears had nothing to do with the body she was in, only the strange new expectations people had for her for it. Not everyone liked tomboys as much as Tai. That didn't matter, though. If he was happy, nothing else mattered. Things were as they should be.

A new stage in her life had begun, and she couldn't wait to experience it.

* * *

 

**Matt:**

"IT MAY NOT ALWAYS BE THAT WAAAAY! YOU CAN'T TAKE NOTHIN' FOR GRAAANTED!"

Not for the first time since the switch, Matt attempted to sing the lyrics of one of his songs... to less than satisfying results.

"Ugh"

He had been disappointed with his declining grades, but the loss of his singing voice bothered the former musician quite a bit more. It was one of two things had come to define his identity, and now both of them were lost.

The knock at the door was a welcome relief when it came.

"Hey, Matt, dinner is ready."

Obviously it was Kari, no one else would call him that.

"Coming!" He yelled back.

When he went downstairs he found her sitting at the table with their new parents. The sight embodied his mixed feelings about the event. When he'd first been switched he refused to eat with them, with the couple that had raised Jun and Davis. For both of the siblings to have gone so similarly wrong... his struggles could only have been the parents' fault, even if they didn't know it. Even today, he avoided them every other chance he got. It was only for his new brother that he sat with them now. He would never be family to the Motomiyas, but he had to be with Kari.

The meal itself was nothing special. Some generic combination of rice, meat and a vegetable, like every other night. They'd blurred together by now. Kari seemed to like her portion, though.

"How is it?" He asked her, making conversation.

"I like it a lot." She said, turning to Mrs Motomiya she said. "Thanks… um... mom."

"You're welcome."

He couldn't blame her for that. Food quality had been one of few improvements to her life since the switch, even if it was a regression on Matt's end. It still pained him a bit to hear her call the woman responsible for their plight "mom," and it was even worse when he had to do it himself. That was the sad reality they lived in.

Their supposed mom addressed him them. "How is your helping?"

"It's... fine."

He could tell the couple was anxious about their "daughter" growing so distant from them. He didn't care about that, but their attempts to reach out annoyed him.

"I heard that Matt boy you like and his band are having concert tonight." She continued the attempt. "You're going aren't you?'

"Yes," he sighed "I am."

It was another event he wasn't looking forward too, but it was one he felt he had to attend. Jun might have his voice now, but there was no way she knew how to use it. He had to know just how badly she would screw up the gig. He needed to know how much he needed to recover if… when he got his body back.

"That is wonderful!" Mrs. Motomiya said. "You know that's how your father and I met. Isn't that right honey?"

Matt knew. This wasn't the first time she'd told him the story. He got the impression Jun had relished hearing the details before the swap, but they only angered her replacement. They only cemented that her mother was the source of all of this.

Her eventual husband had been a singer in a band, a knock-off of the Beatles, and his eventual wife had been as enraptured with him as Western fangirls had been with Paul McCartney. The similarities between that and their daughter's crush on him were obvious, and enraging.

"Of course." the husband replied. "Your brother brought you backstage and it was love at first sight."

At first he had pitied Mr. Motomiya. Part of him assumed that Jun's mother had preformed some evil trick on him to force him to marry her, like her daughter had for their date or their switch. He quickly learned better, though. If Jun took after her mother, Davis took after his father. The man was as infatuated with his now brother-in-law as his wife had been with him. He sickened the former boy as much as she did.

"Incestuous freaks."

Seeing how much they had in common with the body stealing siblings almost made the parents seem like siblings themselves. He knew that much was a step to far. "Not even Motomiyas would stoop that low." He had thought. He didn't much care anyway.

The former boy sat through the rest of dinner, making small talk with Kari when he thought we could do so without provoking such from the thieves' parents. Seldom did it work, but he was compelled to try. Eventually the ordeal ended and he left with her while the adults cleaned up the kitchen.

"You okay, big brother?" She asked him as they went up to her current room.

"I'm fine." He lied. "What about you?'

The former girl was very obviously not okay. As much as he hated his current parents, it was, in a strange way, kind of nice to have two of them again. For Kari, who had never known otherwise, it had to be a ten times worse seeing her own family replaced like that.

"I... just miss mom and dad." She said.

"I do too." Matt replied.

"How, how to you stand it, being way from your mom all the time?"

In a way he did not. In a different way he had gotten used to it.

"I know she can't be with me." He said. "But I also know she stills love me anyway. That's still true now, and it's true for you too. Try to think on that."

It was not a lie.

Kari did seem a bit pleased by it. "Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome."

They set up a three-player game of Chinese Checkers next to her bed. The third player, siting on top of the bed itself, was Gatomon. She couldn't move the marbles with her short fingerless arms, but her partner was happy to move them for her. It had been Kari's idea. She wanted the digimon to have more interactions with someone besides herself, and Matt was happy to oblige. They wagered the former cat could hide under the sheets as quickly as she could under the bed if their "parents" came in. It would be strange to see a three player set up played by two people, but hopefully they wouldn't notice.

Of course, Kari was loosing pretty badly. By the time she got one marble to other side of the board, Matt and Gatomon had gotten five. Davis' brain was doing its worst, much to her apparent chagrin.

"Maybe we should have just done a two player with Kari moving for Gatomon against me. It would have been easier to cover-up anyway." He thought. "No, that would have been worse."

That left the match between him and the digimon.

"Come on Jun-brain." He thought. Surely the one good part of her body had to work for him now...

When his ninth marble reached the other side, Gatomon had 8 and her partner 3. At that point the current gogglehead's remaining 7 marbles proved a larger obstacle to the front-runners than they were to each other. More so for Matt, it seemed. Before the former boy could advance his last piece, the new dragon manged to smuggle both of hers past Kari's stragglers, even using them to jump most of the way across the board.

"Damnit." Matt thought. "How is Veemon's brain better than mine?"

He could still remember that night Jun embezzled a date from him. For all her faults, the savant could notice every little thing he did and what it meant. She was a living lie detector. She was an AP student. What was Veemon? For all Matt could remember the dragonspawn was as dumb as Davis... and yet, here his brain was outperforming Jun's.

"Good game, Gatomon." He said. For all his inner turmoil, he knew he had to be nice to the poor digimon. He really did feel good for her.

Thinking about it, half of the match-up did make sense.

"Maybe Veemon wasn't dumb after all." He thought. "Maybe he was just... ignorant."

He had literally lived under a rock for most of his life...

Still, Veemon had never shown feats like Jun had that night, and neither had Gatomon in his body. Why couldn't Matt now? It almost pissed him off as much as the periods.

Kari was also not looking happy. She looked down in shame. The former boy could almost hear her cry out "Maaaaaatt, you said I wasn't stupid! You said I was just stressed like you!" though her lips were not moving.

"I should have let her win." He thought. "I was to focused on my own lack of intelligence to worry about hers, and she has it worse."

He had always regretted all the times he surely must have not been there when TK needed him. He knew that wasn't his fault. It was the reality of their parents' divorce... but this? Kari was right here and not only was he not helping her, he was making things worse.

Retreat seemed the best option. Not answering that question he knew she was thinking seemed preferable to doing so.

"It's not like I've ever done it any better than that..."

He glanced over at the clock. It was almost 10 pm. He hadn't planed to leave quite this early, but that gave the best excuse.

"I, um... it's time for me to go."

"I... see..." She said. "Um... have fun I guess?'

"I doubt I will." Matt thought. Would it help to say so? For some people misery loved company.

"I'll try." He said. Kari was obviously not that kind of person. "See you tomorrow."

"See you then"

"Next time, I'll definitely let her win." He thought as he walked out. "Wait... unless Gatomon does the same she'll still loose..."

She needed to take Kari's mind of the recent loss either way... How could he communicate that?

He turned around to see his new sibling putting the game up. The human had her back turned, but her partner's eyes instantly locked with Matt's. They... almost seemed to be asking him for approval.

"Is she having the same thought I am?" He wondered.

The former boy nodded, then did the digimon did the same.

"Hey Kari," she said as Matt was closing the door. "You wanna play again?"

"One crisis avoided." He thought. "Good job Gatomon."

All digidestined knew the depth of the bonds between partners. Kari's had shown that well now; she knew exactly what to do to comfort her. That wasn't a surprise. As Matt reflected on it, though, it did surprise him that he was on the same page as her in the matter. Was a bond like that forming between him and Kari? That... was almost unthinkable.

"That can't be. I've only know her for... well..." he thought "...about the same amount of time as she's known Gatomon."

Still, Kari hadn't been a partner to him all that time. She wasn't even that great a friend to the then blonde. Mostly she had been a friend's sister, and a rival's at that.

"Is it because we're blood relatives now?'

That was dumb. They were related to Mr. and Mrs. Motomiya now too, and no love for them was lost on his end. The switched ones had been through a lot together though, these last two months. What other siblings could ever understand each other more than them? They had shared a trauma no one else ever had before, and through it all, they had been there for each other.

"Maybe misery loves company with us after all."

Of course, Gatomon was also sharing that trauma with Kari too. What human and digimon could ever understand each other like that? Matt could not imagine how great the bond between the two of them must be, a match of his new bond with Kari plus their old one between partners. There was no way even the new super-siblings matched that. Still, to even be comparable...

"Maybe I'm a better brother than I think I am."

That made Matt considerably happier as he left the apartment.

It took him much longer than anticipated to find Monoe's. Unlike the real Jun, who he had the impression visited frequently, he had never been there. Only through his old contact with Yolie did the former musician even know which apartment complex it was, and he could barely remember the house number she had shared.

"It was... 328B, right?"

The actual occupant of that house told him the Inoues were in 328E, on the far side of the neighborhood. It seemed miraculous he even knew them, though Matt supposed a family of that size was bond to attract notice. Regardless, between that and all the meandering he did trying to find the complex itself, the former boy arrived latter than he had intended, despite leaving earlier.

It was Yolie that answered the door when he finally arrived.

"Hey Jun." She said. "You okay? Usually you're here early on concert days. Monoe was kind of worried."

"I, um, got a bit lost."

The younger girl chuckled.

He had been the one to hook his band up with the bespectacled girl as a mixer, knowing her through the digidestined. Still, she had been less of a friend to him then even Kari had been. The bandmates had known each other much longer than they had her, and, helpful as she could be, it seemed she could only be an outsider to them. A girl her age just didn't fit in with older guys.

Despite that, it felt really nice to see her again. He did not get to interact with the people from his old life much anymore, so he relished it when he did. Jun, afterall, was not only a grade higher than most of the digidestined, but an AP student. She shared a couple classes with Joe, but beyond that Matt only ever passed his old friends in the hall by chance. Matt had tried to reintroduce himself to the doctor in training, but he seemed to busy and introverted for it to really stick. The former boy wanted to tell him who he really way, but he knew he would never convince someone like Joe of that...

"It is great to see you."

"Um, thanks." Yolie replied. "My sister is back in her room."

She pointed the way, expecting "Jun" to know the way from there.

"Thanks" He echoed.

Obviously, he did not know the way, but it was much easier to find the room than it had been the house. There were dozens of the latter in the complex, but only... 5 rooms in the hallway Yolie had pointed to.

"That... is a lot for an apartment." Matt thought. "Whatever, time for guessing."

Opening the first door, he saw what was obviously a boy's room.

"I must belong to Yolie's brother." He thought. "What was his name?" The Inoues he knew had only mentioned it a couple of times... "Whatever, I'm not here for him."

He closed the door and tried again. This time it was a bathroom.

Third time was the charm. Entering that room, he saw two beds pointed toward the door. In front of them, two teenage girls stood talking. Matt recognized one of them as Monoe. The other must have been her sister Chizaru.

"I guess they share this room." He thought. Recalling the number of rooms in the house it made sense. 4 bedrooms for 6 people was already stretching things.

"There you are!" Monoe exclaimed as he came in. "What's up Jun? Nothing bad happen on the way?"

"No, I just got a little lost." Matt replied. "Sorry I'm late."

"Lost? Really?" Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, really." Matt answered. It was as true as it had ever been these last two months.

"Eh, don't worry about it. We've still got a couple hours before the concert."

That was true. Matt remembered scheduling it before the switch. He had wanted a more normal hour once they settled on July 30th for the date, but somehow Takashi managed to convince everyone else that a midnight gig was cooler. Technically, this meant that the concert was actually occurring on July 31st, but it still worked for their purposes. As long as it was over before the anniversary, that was fine with Matt. He did not want his band and digidestined celebrations to conflict.

Of course, Matt wasn't a digidestined anymore... not in this body. It was doubly ironic now, and doubly bitter. He would get to enjoy neither of those things now like he had planned. That was the other side of his identity that had been stolen from him.

"I miss you, Gabumon."

"You hyped for the concert?" Monoe asked.

He wasn't, but thinking about one of his looses seemed better than thinking on both of them.

"Yes, I am." He said.

"Me too." He said. "I hope they play a love song. Those are always their best."

"Of course they are." Matt thought.

As useful as Monoe was to him, the former musician still did not know if he trusted her. He knew intellectually that Monoe was not a body sealer. If she were, he would be hanging out with Akira right now. A couple of times he had tried to test her promise, "accidentally" calling her Akira and talking about the Teenage Wolves as if they both were a part of them. The most she had done in response to that was look at him funny. In her present state, Monoe was nothing to be feared. Inexorably she saw him as her best friend. That was good for now, but it did raise questions on how she would see him if she knew who he really was. Matt had though about telling her, both in the hopes she might help him with the real Jun and out a morbid curiosity about how she would react. It was obviously a bad idea, though. Even if he could get her to believe him, and he doubted he could, there was always the risk she would side with her true best friend over him. Maybe then he really would find his bandmate in her body...

"Yeah, me too." He lied.

Chizaru rolled her eyes.

"I was hoping you wouldn't show up." She grumbled.

Matt had seen her in a few of his old classes before the switch, but never really talked to her. They were the same age, but, it seemed, in very different cliques. She obviously had no affection for the band member then, but she had never sent a vibe his way quite what she was now sending at "Jun." Then again, he supposed he wouldn't have known if she did. It did not seem as though Chizaru hated him, but is was obvious that she was more than a bit annoyed by his presence.

"See you later, I'm headed out."

Monoe rolled her eyes to that as her sister left the room.

"What's her problem?" Matt asked

"Beats me. She just doesn't like good music. She does this every time the wolves are having a concert." Her sister said. "I really wish I were an only child."

"Trust me, no you don't" He thought.

He hadn't appreciated sharing a room with TK years ago either, but looking back, he could only have found memories of his time with him. Hearing Monoe say that moved the ungrateful sibling a lot further from friendship in his mind.

"Anyway, let's not dwell on that." She said. "How have you been?"

"Struggling in classes in a menstruating body while missing my family, partner, friends, voice and balls." he thought

"I've been fine."

"Same." The host replied.

After a bit more small talk, she walked over to the room's TV. It was sitting on a shelf with DVD's. Monoe began shuffling through them. Picking one she turned around and said "Remember that rental you loved last time you were here? I went ahead and bought it, and I think we have just enough time to watch it before the main event!"

"Lucky us." Matt said, trying his best to hide the sarcasm. Knowing Jun and Monoe it could only be some cheesy chick-flick he would have to sit through.

It turned out to be a body swap comedy.

"You've got to be kidding me."

It was called "Transfer Student." It involved a middle school boy and girl switching bodies and the awkward situations they found themselves in going to school as the opposite sex.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!"

Monoe clearly found their hijinks amusing, laughing every other scene. The most Matt could manage was a forced chuckle. It wasn't funny to him… it couldn't be anymore. All he could feel watching the movie was pity and anger.

"This is what inspired Jun, isn't it? This is why she thinks body swaps are romantic. This is why all this insanity happened!"

He had never hated a movie quite like this one. None had ever made him this angry.

And yet, none had ever made him this sympathetic either. The girl did not steal the boy's boy, or even the other way around. It was an accident. Neither of them wanted it and both suffered because of it. As much as Jun's shadow hung over the film, he couldn't see her in its characters. The main boy and girl weren't her and Davis, they her him and Kari. He wanted to hate them for causing his own plight, his new brother's plight, but he had never felt sorry for fictional characters quite like he had for them. It made him ashamed of his anger.

Then Monoe laughed at them again, at the pain he shared. As far as he was concerned she was laughing at him, and all of his anger was redirected at her.

"Freak."

Eventually the movie finally ended.

"Look at the time!" Monoe exclaimed as she turned off the TV. "We'd better get going."

She tried to make small talk with him as they walked to the concert hall. After the spectacle, Matt could only see her in contempt. Still, he did feel obliged to answer her.

"She doesn't know." He kept telling himself. "It's all a movie trope to her."

That didn't make it any more pleasant.

For that reason, it was a huge relief when they arrived. Of course, it came with it's own new anxiety.

"Time to find out how much Jun screwed up my band..."

After turning in their tickets, the apparent friends were guided into a crowded auditorium. The former boy had never minded crowds, but this turnout bothered him. Whatever happened, half the fans in Kanto were like to see it. That made it that much worse.

It couldn't have been long before the Teenage Wolves came on stage, but it felt like forever.

"Helloooo Tokyo!" Jun exclaimed.

"Ugh, cliche already."

The crowd seemed not to mind though, exploding into revelry.

"This is going to be a long night."

It was probably less than a minute before the show started in earnest. Somehow it felt longer than the waiting he'd already done. It was the first time he'd actually seen his own body for more than a passing moment. By design he'd avoided her at school, and their differences in classes made that easy. The most he'd seen it up until now was the time he'd gone to confront Jun at his house. Seeing her now, in addition to being the ultimate reminder of what she'd taken from him, it also reminded him of that confrontation.

"We're one now, united in body and soul."

He scowled as the music finally started.

He calmed himself as his friends played the instrumental intro. He remembered doing that on stage when they did that. It was a different experience from this perspective, but it did help.

It's the moment of truth then, the beat came for the lead singer to begin. Jun opened her mouth... and the sound was majestic.

"It might not always be that way! You can't take nothin' for granted! "

"No!" Matt screamed in his mind. "That's not possible… How is she doing this?"

He thought back to his own terrible singing... had that switched too? Not just his physical voice but his knowledge of how to use it? How could that be?

"I know the rings left me with Jun's French... I know Kari is talking like Davis now... Obviously the rings switch speaking skills, but musical ones too?"

Despite the missing AP knowledge, Matt knew that singing came from a different part of the brain than speaking.

"Then again, we did establish it isn't our brains that switch…"

Jun kept on singing, though that song and several others. All the time she never missed beat. Matt had been prepared for her to bomb, but this…

"She really has taken everything from me." He thought. "Everything I have… and everything I am..."

Throughout it all Monoe kept screaming out to them.

"I love you Akira! Go Teenage Wolves!"

Even when she didn't know who Jun was, she was still encouraging her, her true best friend.

After what must have been a thousand years, the concert approached its end.

"We have one more song for you guys tonight!" Jun said to the crowd. "Let's go out with a bang. It's a brand new single!"

The crowd roared in approval.

Whatever it was, it meant she was singing something he never had before.

"She can't have stolen that from me right?'

Jun said one more thing as the intro started playing.

"I dedicate this song to the one I love. You're listening, aren't you?"

"Gag me." Matt thought.

"The song is called 'Fallen for You!'"

"That?" He had almost forgotten about the musical debacle he was trying to make before the switch. Now it was coming back to him... Had Jun picked it up? As the intro played, Matt recognized it as Yakuta's making. Did he do the whole thing?

Then she opened her mouth again.

"I see you there, without our clothes. The serpent in me stirs. I cannot resist your fruit

But Father says we can't."

"Subtle as ever Jun." Matt thought, deciding it was her making. Usually the band wasn't that blatant... she was definitely putting her own spin into this song. "Still, that does sound better as an opening line than a chorus like I was thinking."Several in the crowd gasped, but that was quickly replaced by cheering...

"I do not know right from wrong, but I know our love is true.

Father says we cannot be, but how can it be a sin?

If I must leave his house, oh well. My paradise is with you."

The crowd loved it… Matt could only hate it; his heart felt nothing else for the body theif or what she made, but his head… there he loved it too. It was better than anything he could have done with the song. It might have been the night's best performance.

"I'm Fallen for Youuuu! Fallen For Youuuu!

My soul is yours, and your body is mine!"

Matt screamed. It was all he could manage to do. Somehow, it didn't seem out of place in the roaring crowd.

* * *

 

**Kari:**

"This game's winner is… Red Team!"

That was what Kari heard as she entered her own living room.

Tai and Davis fist bumped. "Excellent work sis!"

"Thanks big brother." Davis replied. "We make the best team!"

The former girl had gotten an invitation in the mail to a party here, "For friends and family of Kamiya Hikari." Irony aside, that looked to be a fair description of who all was attending. Kari had passed by her grandparents on the way in, and here in the living room were most of the digidestined. Sora and Izzy were on the couch with Tai and Davis, apparently the loosing team of the last game of Smash. Yolie and Cody were watching. Mimi, Joe, Matt and TK were the only ones absent. Mimi's absence was to be expected; intercontinental vacations weren't cheap, and knowing Joe there was probably some test or study session he was missing it for. For a moment that seemed jerkish to Kari, but then again, it's not like the invitation had said what the party was for... That just left the "brothers" unaccounted for. It was shame not to see TK, but Kari was very glad not to see Jun, who no doubt would have been invited in Matt's place.

"Good game." Sora said. Izzy and Tai repeated it.

"I called winner." Yolie said. "You want to be my teammate, Cody?"

"Eh, I'll pass. My mom's never liked me playing violent video games, and I get enough fighting in the digital world anyway."

That brought Yolie's eyes to the current leader.

"What about you, Davis?"

Kari shared Cody's sentiment. Her mother had been okay with she and Tai playing games like this, but the then girl never really liked them, and fighting for real in a digital world had made such games seem redundant anyway. Still, it would not be the first time she'd played these games with her brother. Every time Kari had come to visit her old family, she had been roped into doing something Davis used to do with Tai: Smash, sports, shounen, something they liked, and invariably, she didn't. Up until recently she hadn't quite minded; it was worth it to be here, to be with them. Now though...

"When was the last time you hung out with Tai? Not just ate dinner with him and your parents, I mean did something together you both enjoyed?"

Try as she might to ignore it, those words still haunted her, and it was harder to ignore them here than anywhere else... but for that reason, she felt she had to. Anything else would prove Davis right.

"Sure, I'm game."

Sitting where Izzy had sat, the current gogglehead changed her character from his Fox to Mewtwo. The catlike Pokemon was her usual choice because it vaguely reminded her of Gatomon.

"Mewtwo? Really?" Yolie asked. "He's the bottom of the tier list."

"Tier list?"

"All the characters have a competitive ranking. Sheik is at the top. Mewtwo is at the bottom."

"I'd say the team is balanced then." Izzy said. "It looks like you're keeping my choice."

It was true. Kari was the only one who looked to be changing character. Yolie had kept Sora's Zelda, and Tai and Davis had their usual Fire Emblem mains.

"They aren't though." The nerdy girl said for the other team. "Marth is top tier, and Roy is middle tier."

"To be fair," Sora said. "Roy is at the bottom of middle tier."

All Kari could think was "What?"

"Hey we beat Fox and Sheik with him, and they're the two highest ranked." Davis countered. "Tiers are nothing next to skill."

"Indeed." Izzy agreed. "Also the tier lists are wrong, because Fox is only #2. With a skill ceiling that high, he is obviously the way of the future."

"Fox? Nah, that will never happen." Yolie said "Besides, Falco is better. My partner told me, so it must be true."

The group chuckled at that and the game began.

Of course, Kari was the first to die.

"You should have kept Fox." Izzy joked.

As quickly as Sheik went down without her, Kari didn't think that would have mattered.

Once again Tai and Davis fist bumped. "Excellent work again, sis. You've grown so much!"

"You two have nothing in common, and I have everything in common with him. You were a terrible match with Tai, and I'm a great one." Rang in her head again. "I deserve him and you don't."

She looked around taking in the view of her old house. It was amazing how comforting it was just be here…

"You're home. Just focus on that." She thought.

Yolie and Izzy had a rematch then. During the bout, Matt, or rather, Jun, came in with TK.

"Hey guys." She said grinning. TK echoed her.

"Wow… TK really looks happy. What's up with that?" She thought. She would have asked him had he not stayed so close to Jun. "I guess he's happy to be with… Matt again. That doesn't happen often enough."

The rematch had the same outcome as before, and the same disheartening celebration by the winners.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come..."

She looked around. Being here still appeased her. She still had that much.

Before another game could begin, Mrs. Kamiya came out of the kitchen. Everyone present had been told not to go in there until she said they could. That seemed to be what was happening now.

"Dinner is ready. You can all come in!"

Family members wound up being herded in first. The irony that the true Kari was not among them was once again painful, but it did not compare to what came once she herself entered the room. It was... red. Balloons of that color were attached to everything their strings could be tied around, and in front of every seat was a plate of light red sekihan rice and beans.

"No… oh gods no!"

The friends and family of "Kamiya Hikari" had been invited to a party... to celebrate her first period.

Jun burst into laughing. "Well, well, well Kari," she said "congratulations, you're finally a woman!".

There was a look of joy on the face Davis had stolen from her. The true Kari could not see it, but she could not imagine what her current face must have looked like then. She couldn't begin to describe how it felt. She had never felt a misery quite like that.

"He... he's taken womanhood from me."

It couldn't be. Matt had promised her they would be back in their own bodies before anything like this could happen, but now...

The rest of the group was to focused on the new maiden to notice her despair. They showered him in praises like Jun had. They practically paraded him to the front of the table.

"Is he even a 'him' anymore?"

And, of course, it was Tai that praised him more than any of the others.

"I'm so proud of you, Kari."

"Thanks, big brother."

The other guests sat down and began eating the rice. Kari just stared at it. She couldn't bring herself to touch it. She couldn't even stare at it for long. It was a reminder of what was happening, of what she had lost. Her adulthood had been taken from her, along with her life, along with her family, along with everything else. It took all of her willpower not to burst into tears. She had done that more than once since the switch, and once in public. She could not bare to do it again in front of everyone. What kind of leader would she be then? She tried looking around again to take in the sight of her old home... but quickly found she could no longer do that either. The red balloons all around her was as great a reminder as the red food. Even that old solace was denied to her... it was like her house had been stolen all over again.

"What did I do to deserve this?"

Eventually Tai did seem to notice her.

"You okay, Davis?" He asked. "You haven't touched your food."

"I... I... I..." It took the current gogglehead several attempts to form the words. "...I don't think I'm hungry."

"That's not like you. Are you sure you're alright? You seem... distraught."

"I... I guess all the talk of periods took away my appetite."

It wasn't a lie. No one there besides the body thieves could know the real reason, but everyone seemed to believe it. Celebrated transitions to a new stage of life aside, bodily emissions tended to have that effect. They did seem to be sympathetic, though some, particularly among the ladies, were less than others.

"I, um, can I be excused?"

With that the crowd's sympathy was lost. Yolie, in particular, rolled her eyes, seemingly more disgusted by the reaction "Davis" was having than its apparent trigger. As far as she could tell her leader was just another guy to disgusted by a woman's body to even keep courtesy. At this point, Kari did not care. She had to get any from this. Unfortunately her mother seemed to share this sentiment.

"Really?" Was all she asked.

"It's okay." Davis input. "If you want to go, go."

The apparent maiden's consent was enough to restore the crowd's respect.

"Alright, I guess so." Mrs Kamiya yielded.

The sound was so sweet that for a moment Kari almost respected the thief herself... not that it lasted long.

"I'm under his power." She though as she stood up. "He's excusing me from my own seat."

Then again, it wasn't her seat anymore, was it, anymore than it was her home... or her party... or her womanhood... All of that was his.

Despite that, she could only relish leaving this room.

"You're still the leader." She told herself. "Outside of this house you have the power."

When she was halfway to the door Tai unexpectedly got up as well.

"May I be excused too?" He asked. "I'll be back. There's something I wanted to talk to Davis about, though, and this seems like a good opportunity."

"Alright"

He followed her out into the living room.

"Wha.. what is it?"

"It's, um, a digidestined matter." Tai began. "I wish I could have said it to the whole group at the party, but well, with the family around that wouldn't have worked, and we aren't all here anyway."

"Odaiba Memorial Day is coming up. I don't know about Mimi, but I can't imagine Joe wouldn't be present then, and there wouldn't be family."

"That is true." Tai chuckled. "I'm surprised you know about that. Did Kari tell you?"

"...yes."

"Good on her. Anyway, was going to tell the others then, but, well, I think you ought to know sooner anyway. You see..."

He paused for a bit, seemingly trying to find the right words.

"I don't know that there is a nice way to say this..."

"Just come out with it." Kari said. It wasn't until after the words left her month that she feared she knew exactly what was coming.

"Very well, You see... I think I'm going to have to take your goggles."

The world collapsed around her.

"Kari came to me and told me Yolie thought she would be a better leader. Later she came back and said Cody agreed with her. If that is true, well, I'm sorry but I don't think you can lead the younger digidestined given most of them don't think you should."

There was a long time before any of them spoke. Tai was waiting for a reply, but... but...

Eventually he asked "Davis, are you... okay?"

She burst out crying then.

She had seen it coming. It was obvious even to someone with Davis's brain that she was not doing well. She has hoped her dismissal by the soccer coach would have strengthened her to it... but here, now, at the same time as everything else... to lose the one thing she had gained...

She could see Tai moving his lips as if to talk to her. She couldn't hear anything, though. Her brain just couldn't process it. The next thing she knew she was back at her new apartment, staring at herself in the mirror. Davis had always been noticeably darker of skin than most of the group, but now, his face looked paler she ever remembered her old face to, with the exception of two darker streaks coming down from her eyes. As she stared at it vague memories of Tai walking her here came back to her... next thing she knew she was in bed. She was a zombie just going through Davis's routine at that point, or rather, the version of it she had been using since she came here. Vaguely she could also remember Matt and her new parents asking ridiculous questions of her. She could almost hear Gatomon doing the same then from under the bed. She did not know if she answered them or not. Nothing she said was worth remembering anymore. Nothing she did was either. Nothing mattered. She didn't deserve anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes came be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/187601091942/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-12-summer-and


	13. Ghost of a Chance

**Chapter 13: Ghost of a Chance**

Jun:

Jun was there again, on that stage, preforming for an endless sea of fans.

"Fallen for Youuuu! Fallen for Youuuu!

My soul is yours and your body is mine!"

The crowd roared in approval. "Go Teenage Wolves. Go Matt! We love you! Matt! Matt! Matt!"

And of course, the loudest cheer of all came from a familiar red-haired body among them.

"I love you! Jun! Jun! Jun!"

She began to step off the stage toward that voice, but as she did, the chant transformed into "Beep! Beep! Beep!"

With that the alarm clock woke her up. She was disappointed for the end of the dream... but only for a little bit.

"That's not really a dream at this point. Is it?"

To say she had enjoyed the concert the other day... that would have been the understatement of the century. As amazing as it felt to be adored by the fans at the school, it was nothing compared to what she had felt on the stage. She had never dreamed of being loved like that.

"Go Matt." She said to herself. "Go me!"

Of course, there was one part of the dream still missing from her reality. As she did every morning now, she went straight to her new phone and pulled up her text messages. As usual there were none from Matt... however there was a close second.

"Matt, you were awesome last night... in more ways that one! I can't wait to go out again."

It was from Akira. She had seen it yesterday, but even today it still reminded her of the other great experience of the concert night. The sixth date of her life, and her fourth with him, had been the best she'd ever had. The former girl moaned thinking about it. The only thing that could have made it better was she had been with Matt then instead. Somehow though, she felt a lot less a lot less impatient waiting for that.

"Life is good." She thought.

She looked around her new room. It had been the guest room before she had moved in. The former girl took her change of clothes out of the suitcase, as she had done every morning since moving in with TK. Her new dresser had a clean load of laundry in it now, but there were still a few outfits left packed she would transfer after the next load. She had never cared much for decorum, and living with Mr. Ishaida had started to make her care even less... Unfortunately, that made it very annoying when the former Ms. Takaishi took over his body and his house.

"Aw well, I'm not in her house anymore," Jun chuckled. "...wait, I am!"

She went on to remove her pajamas. Doing so, the former girl really missed her mirror. Mrs. Ishaida had not arranged to move many of the things from Matt's house over. All her stuff was here already, after all, and both of the former divorcees still ostensibly hoped that their reunion was temporary. Some of the trappings of Matt's old room had made it to the new house, but the full body mirror proved far too bulky and fragile for her new father to consider transporting, much to the new son's complaints. Over the second month of the switch a lot of the magic of changing had begun to become mundane, but with that great enhancer taken away, well, nothing better makes the heart grow fonder. For now, she was limited to the bathroom mirror and her own eyes. For what it was worth, she had come to appreciate that much a lot more.

Eventually she was clothed. Stepping into the hallway, Jun saw a peculiar sight. TK was peering his parents' room.

"Bro?" She said approaching him.

He shushed her, and pointed inside.

"Matt... I think you were right." He whispered. "Look!"

The room, formerly Ms. Takashi's and then her husband's in her body, was where both parents had slept since their reunion. They had never laid in the same bed, however. For the first few days, Mr. Ishiada had slept in a blow up bed pulled from storage. To keep up to appearance of chivalry, the former husband, now the wife, had later begun to sleep in the true bed. Today, that had changed again. They weren't in each other's arms, as a proper couple should be, in fact, they had their backs turned on one another with a clear distance between them, but they were in the same bed. Their marriage was already being remade.

Jun looked back at her new brother. The look on his face was ecstatic. He clearly having the same thoughts she was. She could not see her own face, but it must have looked almost as overjoyed. They embraced each other right there.

They hurried off into the living room, far from their parents' ears.

"You really were right!" TK repeated. "They're really getting back together!"

"Of course they are." Jun agreed. "Love always conquers everything."

"It's like that song of yours." He said. "Lovers Reunited."

Jun nodded and began singing it.

"After years apart, we are together again.

We left of our own foolishness, and suffered for it.

Now we will never again know that pain."

Her brother applauded her. Jun had suspected that song had been inspired by the Ishaidas' divorce. It seems TK thought the same. Both brothers had the same dream they would come back together. Now that was a reality.

"Matt can only love me now."

She had texted her beloved the wonderful news several times. As usual, he hadn't responded, but it was inevitable he'd find out, one way or another, and then it was inevitable he'd embrace her like TK had. That was what she looked forward to now more than anything.

"That was amazing, Matt!" Her brother said as she finished. "Sing it again."

She happily obliged him. He joined in for most of the song.

"Davis never would have done this with me." Jun thought.

It was true. The only reaction she could remember him giving to her singing was was a demand to "be quiet" or "shut up." It was nice to actually have a brother that appreciated her for once.

"Thanks, little bro." She said finishing.

"You're welcome, and thank you!" He replied. Then he started singing it too. That same song, and this time it was Jun that joined in.

"He's not as good a singer as I am." She thought "But yeah, he's better than Davis."

They moved on to other songs after that, most of the love songs the Teenage Wolves had produced.

"He's the best brother ever!"

Unfortunately, their jubilation was cut short by the sound of a digimon.

"Morning TK, Morning Matt."

"Morning Patamon." The brother replied.

"Um, morning." Jun had gotten a lot more used to Patamon in the days since she moved in with TK, though every now and again he did... startle his partner's new brother. Ending a moment like this did not help.

"You guys seem happy." the digimon said. "Happy Odaiba Day to you too."

"Do I go along with that or try to explain?" Jun thought.

When the human partner chuckled she decided on just going with it.

"You too." TK said, and then glanced over at the clock. "Actually, I now that you mention it, I probably ought to get going soon. I was going to meet up with the other younger kids for that."

Jun knew, at this point, what Odaiba Memorial Day was. TK had mentioned an "anniversary" coming up multiple times now, and Davis had reported similar mentions from Tai. Initially, neither of them knew what the anniversary was for, but her brother was quickly able to confirm it was for when digidestined first went to the digital world. He also told her that Tai planed for each age group of digidestined to meet up on that day, then for the two groups to later come together. Jun... did not appreciate this, but with even that Mimi girl in America coming the new blond couldn't imagine she'd find an excuse not to attend.

"I guess it will be nice to see her again." She had thought.

"I can give you a ride, you know." The former girl said.

"Really?" TK replied.

"Of course, what are big brothers for?"

The former girl did not think she would have made that offer for Davis. She did not know if she loved her new brother quite like she loved her old one yet, though, like as he was to Matt, she felt she had come to love him quickly. Either way, she was positive she liked her new brother a lot more.

That being said, she also knew she had a bit of a selfish motive here too.

"Won't that make you late for the meetup with Tai and the others?" He asked

"It's totally worth it for you." She answered.

"I... couldn't accept that. I wouldn't want to make you late." He replied. "Um, would you be okay with dropping me off a bit early?'

Reluctantly, Jun responded "Yes... I'll do that... for you."

Somehow, it still felt worth it.

TK stuffed Patamon into his book bag and they were off. Neither of them could imagine waking up their parents to say goodbye, and given they knew what today was, they decided that they didn't have to. It was one of the nicest rides Jun could ever remember; she and her brother continued to sing songs all the way there. Sadly, all good things seemed to have to come to an end, and eventually, they arrived at the park, and Jun had to let her brother out of the car. He seemed to be the first to arrive, none of the other digidestined being in eyesight.

"Thanks for the ride, Matt." TK said happily.

"Please, call me 'Big Brother'"

"Of course. Thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome, little bro... see you later."

"See you then."

With that, they were forced to part.

A few minutes later, Jun arrived at the airport. The older kids were to meet Mimi here. That was something she was looking forward to. Hopefully, she would be able to interact more with her than Tai... Walking up to the terminal, however, she found him present and not her.

"Hey Matt!" Sora said. "Looks like Mimi's flight got delayed."

"Just my luck." Jun thought. Neither she nor Tai spoke, but from the look on his face he was thinking something similar.

Jun had never appreciated Davis's idol worship, or, consequently, the object of that worship. It was obvious her brother liked him more than he did her, and the former girl almost got the impression he might love his idol more too. That thought had been in background of her mind whenever she saw Tai before the switch. Now it was in the foreground.

"Why did he have to fall for his sister!?"

Jun could not complain about Davis becoming the one he loved; she could only approve of it. Still... that her brother was now biologically his sibling instead of hers...

"You know better." She told herself. "You know for a fact a sibling bond is more than blood. Your... date proved it."

Thinking back on that episode was never fun, but it did provide its own sort of comfort in this situation. Blood or not, she was still Davis's sibling and Tai wasn't.

"Even if that brat treats him like one!" She thought. "Besides, now that I'm living with TK, two can play at that game!"

This was, ironically, not the only way that date had helped her in interacting with Tai. More precisely, it helped her avoid him. Before the date, the older leader had approached her many times at school wanting to chat, and she was forced to pretend she enjoyed it. Now... Jun did not know what Davis had said to Tai about the date, but vibe the older boy seemed to be sending toward Jun was "Screw you for breaking my sister's heart!" She couldn't complain. If he was avoiding her, it made it much easier for her to avoid him.

The two stared angrily at each other for several moments then.

"Uh, you okay guys?" Izzy asked

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tai said.

"Same."

The tension somewhat diffused by that, Jun took a good look at the people there. She had not known Sora or Izzy at all before the switch. Like pre-date Tai, however, they were eager to chat with her in Matt's body, and unlike with Tai, she was okay with doing it. In way, they both kind of remind her of that Yolie girl, and by extension Monoe. She couldn't see either of them capturing her best friend's place in her heart, despite how little she saw of her now, but she did think that she was beginning to bond with them. There was another boy with them here, besides Tai, seeming slightly older. Jun didn't know him anything like how she had come to know Sora or Izzy. Still... he did seem a bit familiar.

"He was in one of my old classes, wasn't he?" his former classmate thought. "What was his name? Jo...nouchi? Yeah, I think that's right..."

Knowing this friend-group he probably had a nickname though...

"Hey Sora. Hey Izzy" She said. "Hey… Jo?"

"Hey Matt." He replied.

"Looks like I guessed right!"

The group made small talk for several minutes after that, Jun and Tai doing there best to avoid addressing each other the whole time.

Eventually, that was interrupted by the arrival of a plane.

"Flight 497" Izzy said. "I think that is Mimi's!"

Sure enough, he was right, and the last digidestined was quick to join them.

"Mimi!" Izzy shouted as she stepped into the terminal. "Welcome home!"

The rest of the digidestined echoed his greeting, Jun, she felt, loudest of all.

"Great to see you guys again." Mimi replied. "How've you been?"

"Between school and digimon stuff, very busy." The same boy replied.

"Tell me about it." Jo added.

"You guys are eggheads." Sora joked. "But yeah, I feel that way too. You're lucky, Mimi, to have an ocean between you and all this trouble."

Those words resonated with Jun for several seconds after they were said. Hard as it was on the digidestined, their newest member did not think they had it as hard as she did with her lingering fear of digimon and lack of experience with their... trouble. She brushed the thoughts aside quickly, though. She needed it to get over her fear, and, of course, she never would have gotten her wedding rings an ocean away from Ken.

"Maybe I should have given Michael the ring and had the best of both worlds!" She joked to herself.

"My parents sure think so." Mimi said. "I swear my dad got that job in America just to get me away from the monsters. I say he watches to much Godzilla. It is great to be back here with you guys."

"It's great to have you back." Tai said.

"Absolutely." Jun added. "For once he actually said something right."

That had also been intended as a joke... though maybe the delivery had been less than jovial. Either way its target seemed not to appreciate it. He didn't reprimand the would be joker, but he did send a nasty scowl her way.

The expat seemed to notice this.

"I see you two are still at it." She said. "I ought to be mad, but it is kind of nostalgic."

Some of the other digidestined chuckled bitterly.

"For a while they weren't." Sora lamented.

"Yeah," Izzy contributed. "They were bros most of the time you've been gone. I don't know what happened this last month or two."

"It's... complicated." Jun said. It was the biggest understatement she recalled ever making.

Tai groaned. "I'm sure it is."

"What does that mean?" the red haired girl asked.

"Um..." Tai hesitated to say it.

"Yeah, what does that mean?" Mimi replied. "Don't leave us hanging."

He sighed. "I guess I have to tell you, don't I. Matt... took my sister out on a date last month. I don't know what happened but it was obvious Kari had been crying when she came home. She wouldn't talk to me about anything all night."

As mush as she avoided talking with Tai in normal circumstances, doing so then would have been the last thing she wanted to do.

"She still won't talk to me about the date, even now!" He continued

Jun had not known what Davis was or was not saying to him on that front. For her part, if TK knew about the date and asked her questions about it, she would have come up with excuses not to answer him too. She had been kind of worried the brat, as much as he worshiped Tai, would sing to him, but it looked like he was at least not quite that diluted.

"Good to know." She thought.

The rest of the group was surprised by the revelation.

"Matt and Kari?" Izzy puzzled. "That's... interesting."

"Kinda weird." Jo said "What about the age difference?"

"What about it?" Mimi put in. "It's only a number. If they loved each other, more power to them."

"Still, it sounds like things were less than lovey dovey." Sora said in a tone Jun couldn't make sense of. "What happened on that date?"

"I..." The dater began. "Let's just say it didn't work out."

Sora looked slightly relieved by those words. Mimi seemed to want to hear more, though; she was about to say something before Tai broke in.

"Look at the time." He said pointing to a clock on the wall synced to Japanese time. "We need to get going to meet up with the younger kids.

The new blonde might have guessed he was trying to end the conversation, but the clock did back him up; Mimi's delay had cost them a lot of chat time. It could still be argued if her new rival was seizing an opportunity, even if he hadn't created one, but Jun did not care. She wanted the conversation ended too.

Reluctantly Mimi seemed to yield.

"Alright," she said. "Who am I riding with?"

Jun volunteered. So did Tai and Jo. Jun knew Sora and Izzy did not have cars, so that must have meant everyone had one wanted the honor.

Before they could fight over it, Sora chimed in. "You should come with us in Joe's car. Izzy will be there too, so that's half the group you can chat with."

"I can't argue with that." Mimi said "Sound like a bit much for my trip to the hotel after this, though. I wouldn't want to trouble you guys."

That left that trip between Jun and Tai.

"I can't let him have it."

The romantic had never really had a rival before, but now that she'd inherited one from Matt, she knew she was really getting into it.

As if sensing that thought, Mimi looked back and forth between them a few times. Finally, she fixed her gaze on Jun, and for a moment the former girl felt the thrill of victory.

Then she said "Matt, I'll go with you if you tell me all about your date with Kari."

"On second thought, Tai can have this round."

Despite Mimi's absence, the drive back to the park was still a pleasant experience for Jun.

It was one she hadn't known before the switch. Her parents' hesitation to buy a cell phone for her could only have been greater for something as expensive as a car. The freedom that gave her now was hard not to appreciate, even if Tokyo's insane traffic meant it wasn't always practical. She was happy upon arrival... despite her mixed feelings of the event.

Regrouping with the other digidestined, she headed out toward the center of the park. She tried to make small talk with Mimi on the way there, but this was complicated by Tai's attempts to do the same and their lack of desire to speak with each other.

"Come now boys," the pink haired girl teased. "There's no need to fight over me."

Jo chuckled at that joke, though he seemed to be the only one to find it amusing.

Before long the younger kids came into view... most of them anyway. Jun saw both her brothers there as, well as Yolie and the small boy she had eventually learned was named Cody. Kari however, was absent, not that the others saw it that way.

"That's right, Kari," TK said to Davis "you weren't with us for the first trip to the digital world, were you?"

"Um, right. I wasn't." He said. "I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Um, guys, I think the older kids are here." Cody said. He pointed toward the other group.

"Mimi!" Yolie shouted upon seeing the other girl. She ran up and embarrassed her. "Great to see you again!"

"Great to see you again too." She replied.

"Welcome back, big brother." Davis said. Of course, it was directed at Tai.

"Hey, sis." He replied.

Jun walked up to TK and hugged him passionately. "Hey, little bro." She said.

The younger blond returned the hug and said "Hey, big brother."

The former girl glanced over at the new. She could see the look of confusion for in his eyes that was quickly be replaced by anger and jealousy.

"All acording to plan." Jun thought. As much as she had come to despise Tai for this sort of reason, she could only imagine how it would have felt for Davis in this case, given he already hated TK. "Payback is a bitch."

The group made small talk for a bit after that. Quickly, however, Davis designed to cut in.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to tell everyone, Tai?'

All eyes went to the leader then.

"Here it comes." Jun thought. She had expect him to get straight to this issue.

"Well, yes." He answered. He turned to her new brother.

"TK," Tai asked, "Do you remember 4 years ago, when the old group chose to make me their leader?"

"Of course, we were coming home from the digital world, and, well, doing so involved a perilous decision we needed someone to make. We all agreed, that someone had to be you."

"Gag me." His new rival thought.

"That's right." He replied. "That day was, 4 years ago today... well, by real world standards anyhow. For that reason, I decided today was the perfect day for the new group to make a similar choice."

The blond boy puzzled at that for a minute.

"Are you saying you want us to choose a new leader? What about Davis?"

Yolie snorted. "What about him." She waved around everywhere as if to point out "he" wasn't there.

"Yeah, I dislike that too" The older leader said, taking her meaning. "But yes, that is what I was getting at. I know I installed Davis as the junior leader, but, well, I think that is a decision you guys need to affirm. I've gotten some... less than glorious feedback on his leadership. It seems several of you would rather see Kari with the goggles"

TK was visibly shocked by this. It looked like most of the older digidestined were too, all but Tai and herself. Obviously Tai knew about it, but it seems they did not. Jun... had to know about it, as much as Davis had bragged to his sister about it. It wasn't the first time he'd annoyed her, and she made that much clear to him. She would never admit it, but it did make her kind of proud of him. He'd never inspired both emotions in her before at the same time.

"Can we do that, when Davis isn't here to defend his claim?" TK asked "Did we even tell him about it?"

Her new rival sighed. "I did tell him about it... last night at the party."

"Party?" Mimi asked.

"Wait," Yolie put in "was that what THAT was all about?"

It was obvious what "THAT" was referring to. No one at the table knew the context, Tai had not returned to tell them before the party ended, but they all had heard Kari wailing through the door.

Tai sighed. "Well... yeah."

The nerdy girl then burst out laughing.

"Really," Sora asked. "Davis cried like that when you told him he couldn't be leader anymore?"

There was no response, but the facial expression the arbiter let slip though told them that is how it had been.

"Wow," Cody said. "What a baby."

The real Davis made a smug smile. "I know, right?"

Jun had to have more sympathy for her than anyone else there. The former girl couldn't imagine how it must have felt to lose her menarche like that. Still, she had to agree with the sentiment most of the group seemed to share. That reaction... was kind of pathetic.

"Besides," she thought "she'll be the happy one in a few years anyway."

Momentous as the first one was, the absence of periods was another perk Jun had come to appreciate about the male body.

"Welcome to womanhood, Davis."

Tai seemed to be the only other digidestined to empathize with his perceived protege. Perhaps to shift the discussion way from this, he went on. "At any rate, I wanted you guys with D3's to vote on a leader. It can be Davis, Kari, or anyone else."

"I vote for Kari." Yolie interjected, wasting no time.

"I vote for Kari as well." Cody said.

"I vote for me." the new Kari added.

With that, everyone's eyes turned toward TK. He paused for several moments as if wondering what to do.

"I..." he eventually stuttered. "I.. abstain."

Davis rolled his eyes at his rival's indecision. "Whatever, it's not like it matters at this point."

"That... is correct." Tai said. "Congratulations sis! All of the votes cast were for you."

"You go gogglegirl!" Yolie praised. "Where are the goggles anyway?"

"I..." Tai stuttered at bit at first too. "I, probably should have taken them from Davis when I took him home, but... I couldn't do it. It felt like.. well, kicking a sad dog when it was down. Either way, I didn't know for sure he was going to lose the election yet anyway."

Knowing how Kari's crying was perceived, Jun couldn't imagine the vote going any other way. Tai must have been able to guess that perception then too, but it seemed he chose to doubt it.

"Does that mean I don't get the goggles?" Davis pouted.

"Of course you get the googles." The older leader responded. "I was thinking we could have an inauguration on the 3rd."

"The day Kari defeated Myotismon?" Izzy asked. "That sounds appropriate to me."

"Indeed." Tai responeded. "It was also the day she and TK gave Matt and myself the power to warp digivole and defeat VenomMyotismon. I couldn't think of a better day to give her the goggles and formally make her leader."

"I couldn't agree more." Jo added. "Congratulations Kari!"

"Congrats Leader-Elect!" Yolie chanted. Most of the others repeated that chant, including Jun.

"Congrats, brother." she thought.

* * *

Gatomon:

"Davis! It's 2 o'clock. Get up."

Kari just laid there, ignoring the Motomiyas, just like she had the previous two hours.

"Davis, what's wrong?" His dad pleaded.

Kari just growned, badly pretending to still be asleep. For what it was worth, she really was until just a second ago.

"Please, Davis, you're scaring me!" came his mother.

The parents made pleads like that to their perceived son for several minutes. These were as fruitless as the first few. Kari just ignored them, trying her hardest to go back to sleep in spite of their interruption. In the end her new parents just seemed to give up and left the room, leaving the door open to easily see said son anyway.

Of course, this was bad news for Gatomon.

The digimon had been making similar pleas to Kari ever since she returned from the party at her old house. Whatever happened there had clearly scared her, the depressed girl replying to her partner no more than to the Motomiyas. Nonetheless, the former cat had to continue her appeal.

"You're scaring me to Kari, please get up!" She said, though the human, as usual, ignored her.

Finally, she added. "Could you at least get up and close the door? I don't want to be stuck under here."

Davis's mom had left the door open the previous two hours as well, confining the unknown digimon beneath the bed. Gatomon did not complain then, because she was much more concerned about her partner and did not want to be selfish. As long as this had dragged on, though, she reluctantly gave into temptation.

"Ugh," Kari grunted. "Fine."

To the former cat's amazement, she then got up and closed the door.

Gatomon scurried out from under the bed, awestruck. "I... thank you."

"You're... welcome." Kari seemed to force out.

Despite getting up, she did not stay up, instantly climbing back into the bed when the door was closed.

"Does that count as progress anyway?" Gatomon thought. Either way, it wasn't enough.

"Kari, please tell me what's wrong." She begged.

It wasn't the first time the digimon had asked that of her partner, but now she hoped against it would she would actually answer this time.

"She's come this far, hasn't she?"

The human turned to her. She stared at her for a few moments as if deciding whether or not she would answer. In the end, she must finally have decided it was worth doing... though in a very... unexpected way.

"Partner," she began. "what would you do if I died?"

"What?"

"I... I know you're free to move around in the digital world; it's coming to Earth that makes you need to hide under the bed. If I weren't around, you wouldn't have any reason to do that."

"Oh my god." The digimon thought. "This can't be happening!"

"Kari please, don't even think that! Don't EVER think that." She said. "I... if you died... I... don't know how I'd live anymore!"

"You'd live freer." the human answered. "You would be able to live like you did after I left the digital world, like the original Veemon did that first night after he met Davis. I can only imagine you'd be happier."

"I'd be miserable. Kari, this is madness! Where is this coming from?"

"I already told you, if wasn't here, there would be no reason for you to come to Earth and be stuck under the bed."

"If it means being without you, that would be empty. I would be empty. You're my partner and I love you. Please, please don't talk about this!"

The look of contempt Kari gave her partner then... it was like nothing Gatomon had ever seen.

"Of course you don't understand." She said. "I didn't understand either."

That was the last thing she said to her. The former cat pleaded again and again trying to dissuade her from this, but she just laid there silently, lost in her own misery.

"This can't be happening!"

Eventually a knock came at the door.

"Kari, what's wrong?"

It was Matt. Only he would call her that, and only when no one else was in earshot.

As expected, however, Kari ignored him.

"Matt, um, come in?" Gatomon said for her.

She didn't know if he could help her, but somebody had to, and the new dragon was her wit's end.

With the digimon's approval, he stepped into the room.

"Kari, please, what happened last night?" He begged.

The expression on Kari's face could only say "ugh, again?" She did not, of course, actually say anything.

"It was Davis wasn't it? What did he do to you?"

Again there was silence.

Matt sighed. He turned to the new cat. "I don't suppose you've had any luck, either?"

"I... I kind of wish I hadn't." She said, explaining to him what had just happened was one of the hardest things he ever did.

All Matt could say in response was "Kari, why? Why would you even think that?".

"Because I'm worthless." She answered. "You're all better off without me, just like Tai."

Her partner and sibling just stared at her for several moments, mouths agape.

"Wha.. what are you talking about?" Matt finally asked. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter." Kari said. "Nothing matters. Please, just leave me alone."

That response seemed to be all Kari had in her. Matt and Gatomon both made several attempts to reach out to her again, but she ignored them. They were back to square one... only now they worried even more.

* * *

TK:

"Bon appetite!" Matt exclaimed.

'Thanks a lot, big brother."

"Yes, thank you son." Mom added.

"Thanks, Matt." Patamon chimed in.

"You're all welcome."

It had always mostly been mom that prepared food she and TK ate. Lately, though, there had been a pretty noticeable drop in meal quality. The son was to polite to mention it, but when the family reunited dad and Matt had begun doing most of the cooking instead. Today dad was working late, so that left the older brother to handle it… and he was handling it very well, even by the high standards he's set since his return. Right now he was carving a stuffed turkey.

"This is delicious," TK said when he took his first bite. "Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Truth be told just had a video chat with grandpa." Matt replied. "I was feeling turkey, and I wanted to add a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi, if you know what I mean. Turns out Frenchmen don't eat turkey much, but they make a big exception for Christmas. I know it's summer, but somehow Dinde de Noel seemed fitting anyway. It's not like it isn't our own little holiday season right now."

"True." TK said.

"Still," he had to inquire "You asked grandpa for a turkey recipe? That seems like a bit much."

"Well, amoung other things." His brother clarified. "What can I say? I've been… wanting to be more in touch with my heritage lately. He's been happy to help me with that. I've, um.. brushed up on a lot of French vocabulary with him, and, of course, his is the nation of the world's finest chefs. We're part French ourselves. Why shouldn't we inherit some of that too?"

"I can't argue with that." The Christian agreed. "It's funny, mom used to say something similar to that about cooking. Didn't you, mom?"

"Um, yes." She said "We've um, got to live up that French heritage."

"That's the spirit!" Matt chimed in. "You should have a chat with him too sometime."

"That would be… interesting." Mom answered.

"How's grandpa doing anyway?" TK asked.

"He's looking great! Especially for someone as old as he is, he has all his hair and everything." The older brother winked. "Did you know, men actually get the genes for loosing or keeping hair in old age from their mother's side of the family?"

"I did not know that." he replied, his mom shaking her head as well.

"Well, I'd say that's good evidence we'll still be good looking 60 years from now too. I don't know about you, but I like the thought of that."

Somehow, TK did too.

"I like the thought of being a MangaAngemon again." Patamon said. "I hope that happens." TK laughed.

Mom was the first to finish dinner.

"I guess I really do have a woman's appetite." She said, slightly sad sounding.

"Um… you okay mom?" Her youngest son asked.

"I.. I'm fine." She responded. "You guys keep eating. I'll go ahead and clean up the kitchen."

"Thank you, mother." Matt said.

"You're welcome."

The small digimon was finished shortly there after and flew off.

While the brothers were finishing up, dad came in… he was not looking very good when he did. "Stressed" did not begin to describe how he staggered in. "Exhausted" came closer, but it didn't quite seem to hit the mark either.

"Hey, dad." TK greeted "Um… is everything okay?"

"It isn't." He responded. "Can I eat some of that turkey. I'm starving."

"Of course, father." the maker of the turkey said.

He just pulled off a drumstick and sat down.

"Seriously, dad, what's wrong?" his younger son asked.

"I really don't know." He replied. "I… you know I've been having problems at work lately, but today… it was like nothing I've ever seen."

"Should I get mom?" TK asked.

"No. Your… mother has been a godsend lately, but this… I don't think she can help with it. I don't know that I believe anyone can. I..." he paused for a moment. "I think the studio is haunted."

"Haunted really?" Matt just laughed. "Come on dad, that's crazy."

"Maybe it is crazy." Mr Ishida agreed. "Heck, maybe I'm crazy. It would explain a lot..." he paused "It really would explain a lot, but if I am crazy, it seems like half the people at the office are too. We're all seeing it… that strange shadow everywhere, both in real life and on the screens."

"A shadow?" The older son questioned, obviously still not convinced.

"It never does the same thing twice, not even on the recordings."

"That… is odd..." Matt conceded.

For a few seconds the room was silent.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate. In the quiet, TK could pick out a faint sound from in front of his father, where he had laid down his coat.

"Is that what I think it is?" He asked himself. "No, it couldn't be."

Still, he was curious. He reached out his hand where the sound came from, into the coat pocked, and pulled out an MP3 player. Putting it ear bud up to his ear, he heard it clearly.

"Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum,"

It was a Catholic hymn being song from the machine of his Buddhist father.

"I… is this Ave Maria?" He asked.

"Yeah… it is." Dad paused for a moment then, seemingly thinking of what to say. "I… um… your mother showed it to me. She said she found it comforting, and, um, in all the was happening I decided to give it a try."

"That..." TK did not know what to say to that. "That's a surprise." That did not begin to cover it. He wasn't old enough when his parents split up to remember to many details… but it seemed like religion played a fairly big part of it…

"I need all the comfort I can get, right about now." He continued. "I… I'm sure, um... Amaterasu will understand."

TK still did not know what to make of it. His brother seemed a lot more sure.

"You're listening to mom's music? Awesome!" He put in. "That's super romantic!"

* * *

Matt:

"Hey Davis," Tai's voice said through the phone's answering machine. "It's Tai. Listen. Um, that thing we talked about, about the goggles, I need to talk to you about it again. The group discussed it the other day, and we think Kari should have them. Please call me back when you get the message. We really missed you these last couple days."

Matt was playing that message again. It wasn't the only one Tai had left over the young August, or even the first, but it was the most direct. Most of the messages had just asked for "Davis" to call him back and didn't say anything about why. By now most of the digidestined knew that was the sort of call that pertained to digimon matters the caller didn't want your parents hearing about. This one though... it seemed designed to tell "Davis" exactly what the call was about in a way only he would understand. Only to a digidestined would the symbolism of goggles be apparent. At this house, however, that label applied to more people than Tai knew.

"Or it used to apply, anyhow."

Overshadowed as it was by seeing his new brother's misery, Matt had been more than a little sad for himself not to be able to attend the anniversary of their first trip to the digital world. It was one more thing to add to the list of things Jun had stolen from him. Of course, today being what it was, Davis had done the same sort of thing to Kari, and that call made it seem like he had taken it at least one step further...

He sighed. Figuring this out he decided to try to comfort her again. Given the results of his previous attempts, though he wasn't optimistic. Would this extra bit of knowledge help? He had to try it either way. If there was any chance, even a ghost of a chance, he had to try.

The former musician went up to her door and knocked. "Kari, please open the door."

As expected she was silent on the other side. For what it was worth, a familiar, if less than optimal, response came from Gatomon.

"Come in." She said.

Matt sighed. Stepping inside, the scene was basically the same as it had been the last two days. Kari was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. If she noticed he had come in, she did not show it.

"Hey, Matt," her partner said. "Please close the door behind you."

He complied, and she crawled back out from under the bed.

"Is she still... talking about dying?" He asked

"It's still the only thing she does talk about." Gatomon lamented.

Somehow, that did get Kari to speak.

"You don't understand; you're a digimon." She said. "You keep the same body when you are reborn, and most of the time you get to keep your memories. Humans don't. If I died... maybe I'd get to be a girl again in my next life... or at least a less stupid boy. I'd be fine with that. Being a boy again wouldn't be so bad if I couldn't remember being a girl... if I couldn't remember this life... if I couldn't remember loosing it already."

"Kari, please stop this." Matt begged. "Even if you couldn't remember, we would. I would."

"I'm not worth remembering."

"You know better than that." Matt said. "Don't you remember what today is? Today is the day you killed Myotismon. Today is the day you gave Tai the power to kill half the Dark Masters."

Kari laughed bitterly. "What does any of that matter now? I lost that power a long time ago. We all did, when we gave up the power of the Crests." She laughed again. "It might as well have been in another life."

"You're wrong." The former blonde replied. "That power lives on in the digieggs."

"I don't have that either." The former girl answered. "Kari does."

"Wha... what are you talking about? You are Kari."

"I used to be. Now I'm just... Davis."

"Ka.. Kari, partner, you can't mean that." Gatomon pleaded.

Matt was more direct. "Don't you say that. Don't ever say that!"

"But it's true. I'm not Kari anymore. She is Kari, and she's better at it than I ever was."

"What are talking about?"

"Tai likes her better than he did me. She's his perfect sister. She easily does everything I struggle to do."

"Tai does not get to define who you are!" His rival boomed. "You do that. You are Kari."

Kari shook her head. "She defined who we are with the rings."

"This... is worse than I thought."

"What about me?" He asked. "If you're Davis, is your partner Veemon? Am I Jun?"

"You... um... I..." Kari stuttered. At first it sounded like she was about to say some elaboration on "yes", but she stopped herself. Had Matt's reaction stopped her or had she done it herself. Seeing her stop, "Jun" could feel his face move into a calmer position. What had it looked like before? Having held his previous expression for such a short moment, the former boy could not be certain what it looked like. He did know he had been thinking "Don't you dare say I'm Jun!" With everyone else calling him that, perhaps it shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did. Still, it loose the one other human being that said otherwise...

"Kari, listen to me." He said. "Two days ago... it was the day I became a digidestined. I... all this year I couldn't wait to relive that, let alone to see TK again, maybe even Gabumon and Mimi. In this body... I can't do that. None of our friends will recognize me for who I am. None of them will speak of anything digimon related with me. They don't see me as a digidestined anymore. Heck, they don't even see me as their friend! But you... you're not like that, not as... not in Davis. You're still a digidestined. You're still their friend. And you're invited to celebrate with them, for things you did along with them, even if they don't know it. I... I envy you for that."

"Ju... Ma..." the former girl mumbled a bit before saying anything coherent. "I'm sorry."

"Kari, I know what happened with the goggles." She cringed at the sound of that word, but he kept going. "Tai's been leaving messages about it for days now. I... wish you would fight it. I wish you would go out an contest an election you weren't there to compete in. Who am I kidding, though?"

It was obvious at this point trying to convince her would be futile. Really, the compromise Matt was about to try next seemed almost as unlikely to work; but he felt compelled to do it, both for Kari's sack, and, to a large extent, for his own.

"If you won't do that, would you at least go out and celebrate the 3rd? I... I'm sorry but seeing your locking yourself away in here is infuriating to me."

Hoping against hope, he continued "I've already told you I can't do that for myself. Would... would you please do that for me?"

He laughed internally after spitting out the words. What a farce it all was! Here he was being selfish amidst his new sibling's pain. He felt more than a little bit guilty then...

Kari though, looking at her Matt could not understand what was going on in her mind. She looked disgusted, whether at him or herself he couldn't say. In a strange way she also looked... sympathetic? It was almost like she was sad for him as well as for herself. Most of all she looked... reflective?

After several moments of silence she finally said something "Alright."

"Wha... what?"

This time it was Matt that stuttered in response. Had he heard that right?

She hesitated a bit more, but she went on to say "I... I'll go out today. I'll celebrate in your place."

"I..." He was speechless.

"Oh my god Kari! Thank you!" It was Gatomon that said that. She was plainly ecstatic. She leapt from the floor, as if to jump up and hug her partner, though the body of a DemiVeemon couldn't make the jump.

This spurred Matt. If his sibling were willing to celebrate in his place, why couldn't he in Gatomon's? It wasn't as though he didn't want it for himself either, and, after what had just happened, maybe that was worth an investment too. He ran over and embraced her.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I... you're welcome." She said. "Um... would you please leave me alone after that?"

The former boy did not know if "that" referred to what had just happened or to anniversary she had agreed to attend. It didn't matter. If nothing else, he had to oblige the former. The latter... he we would at fist, but, well, she didn't say for how long.

* * *

Davis:

"Congratulations Kari!"

It wasn't the first time another digidestined had complimented Davis since her election; it wasn't even the first time today. Still, it felt great as ever.

"Thank you, Sora." She replied.

The older girl had been the latest to arrive here, outside the TV Station. It was to be the site of their leader's restoration. The place where the original Kari had defeated Myotismon, there could be no better place in the group's eye for her to be crowned. In the new Kari's eye, there was no better place to enshrine her new identity. Having thought on it before, she had realized that on this day four years ago, the same day as the old Kari's triumph, had also been day of her old family's imprisonment by the Bakemon. Davis knew which event she'd rather associate with the day, and this coronation would now doubt solidify that. It could only be the thing she would associate this day with in years to come, along with the victory that had given it its date. That victory would be hers then, along with her body and her title. Everything else would be left with Kari.

She had dreamed of the event the night before, of her new brother placing the goggles on her head like a queen's crown. She had experienced that before, back as a he, on his first day as a digidestined. He was new to the group then, however, and didn't fully appreciate just what he had gotten. Now as a she, the soon to be restored leader could only reveal in it. To lead the vanguard of a global organization on at least two continents against what she now knew was the prodigy he had looked up to for so long... that was hard not to appreciate. Even without that new knowledge, she could think of no better way to display her rightful place as Tai's sibling and heir. It could only be her own greatest victory, the greatest honor and joy she would ever have.

Of course, that glorious crowning couldn't happen without her crown.

"Where is Davis, anyway?" the original Davis asked. "Does he still have the goggles?"

By now the soon to be former leader was one of few digidestined not to show up yet for the coronation, and it couldn't go on without him. Still wearing the googles, Kari had what was technically the most important part, and, somehow, the thought of the former girl acknowledging that Davis had replaced him as leader felt almost like him acknowledging she had replaced him as Kari and as Tai's rightful new sister. That was her dream at least. She couldn't help but guess it also channeled some of the energy from wanting TK to submit to him as leader back when he was a him... not that that didn't still appeal as a her.

"Beats me." Yolie said. "He's probably not showing up to this anymore than he did the election. We're better off proceeding without him once Matt and TK get here."

"But I want my crown." Davis whined internally. Turning the thought into words she was sure to say "goggles" instead of "crown" and continued "Can I get them if Davis doesn't bring them here?"

"Yolie is right." Cody opined. "I don't see Davis just showing up at this point. Has anyone heard from him at all since the party?"

No one indicated that they had.

"I'm positive Davis will come." Tai said. "I do have that much faith in him. Rough as things have been lately, he's still been a great member of the team."

"But what if he doesn't show up?" The original Davis asked. She was less sure of Kari than his idol was of him.

"And that's why I deserve to be his sister." She thought.

"If he doesn't show up, I'll go get the goggles from him." her brother conceded. That pleased her.

"Matt" and TK arrived shortly there after. Other than Kari, they were the last to arrive.

"Hey guys." TK said.

Several in the group responded in kind. Davis was not among them.

"What, no congrats?" She thought.

She did not say it, but the look she was giving him must have.

"Um, congratulations, Kari." Her rival murmured.

"That's better." It wasn't intended to be spoken aloud, but from the look TK gave back, it must have been.

"Huh, that's new." Mimi said. "I knew your brothers were still going at it, but I didn't think it would ever spread to you two; if anything you used to be all lovey dovey."

"What?" TK asked.

Tai just glared at Jun.

"Maybe she realized he wasn't worth 'settling' for."

"What?" the Christian repeated.

Mimi just laughed. Most of the other older digidestined just sighed.

"I'm with TK here." Yolie said. "What are you guys talking about?"

Davis could tell by their reactions that one of her brothers had let the date slip to the other older digidestined.

"Thanks a lot Jun!"

Intellectually she knew Tai was a more likely candidate, but she chose to blame her former sister.

"Ugh, might as well let the cat all the way out of the bag." She thought.

"I... had a date with... Matt a few weeks ago." She admitted.

"Well, well, well," Yolie yet again congratulated. "Great catch Kari!"

The former boy groaned internally.

"That's... odd." Cody said. "Isn't he, like, 4 years older than you?"

"Eh, it's only a number." the nerdy girl countered. "I wonder if this means me and Micheal might work out after-all!"

"We DIDN'T work out." Davis interjected. "We... really didn't."

"I will second that." Jun added. "We really, really didn't."

Yolie looked disappointed by that, and Cody slightly relieved. TK... was very obviously deeply in thought and not reacting to the world around him. Had he even heard the talk about the date?

"Lovey dovey" he mouthed. "Is that true?"

Davis could practically see him rethinking his entire history with Kari in his mind.

"Really?" Davis question in her own mind. "Did he really not notice Kari liked him? That's... amazing. And they said I was the stupid one!"

"Huh," Sora puzzled. "I've seen over-protective big brothers badgering their little sisters' boyfriends before, but I've never seen a little brother hate on his older brother's girlfriend."

"It seems to me more like the little sister has been hating on her ex's little brother." Cody corrected.

"It's... complicated." Jun said. For once, Davis had to agree with him.

"I suppose it is at least as good an explanation as any for the change in 'Kari's' relationship with TK." She thought. Awkward as this conversation had been, it at least made for convenient lemonade. She still wanted to get away from the lemons, though...

"Look guys, Davis coming!" Izzy said, pointing his finger.

Looking where he pointed, the true Davis could see him approaching, Kari, in her old body.

"The timing couldn't be better." She thought. "Time for the main event."

It was clear Kari did not want to come here. It almost looked like he was struggling to walk toward them, and several times when a digidestined tried to make eye-contact with him, he looked away. Still, despite no doubt knowing he would loose his crown, he was coming. Davis was mildly impressed with his sportsmanship.

"Took him long enough." Yolie said, not sharing the thought.

The former boy played along, "I know right." she turned to say to her. As he looked back at Kari, however, it seemed… darker?

"Why is it cloudy all of a sudden?" Jun asked.

Davis looked up. Sure enough, the sunny sky that had been there a few seconds ago was replaced by a sheet of dark gray clouds. She was taken aback by the suddenness of it.

"Please don't tell me it's about to rain on my coronation!" The soon to be restored leader screamed inside. "Hopefully it will blow away as quickly as as it came.

Before she could think anything else, a bolt of lighting struck the studio, covering it in sparks, and a deafening clap of thunder filled the air.

The group gasped. "Something is not right here." Davis found herself saying.

She turned back toward her old body. The bookbag on its back was squiring violently.

"Gatomon must be in there." The former boy thought. "I guess the world's loudest thunder clap must have been even scarier if you couldn't see the lightning. How would you even know what it was?"

Regardless, he wasn't the only one scared.

"Dad!" TK blurted out, apparently snapped back to reality by the sound of thunder. "Dad is in there!"

Jun put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry." He said. "I am here for you."

Davis scowled at that.

"When did you ever do that for me when I was scared?"

It had begun to feel like her old rivalry was him was dying down. The longer she'd been the new Kari, the less she cared about his relationship with the old one. Today however... with how Jun had been treating him these last few days it felt like their rivalry was hotter than ever.

She did not have time to dwell on it long before the building's staff came running out. Cries of "It's the ghost!" and "It's after us!" came from them.

"We should be going too." Mimi said. "I… I don't like the look of this."

"No!" TK cried out. "Not until we see my father is safe."

The group looked for him among the outgoing stream. As far as Davis could tell, no one saw Mr. Ishida running out with his employees, but everyone seemed to notice the one person running in the opposite direction.

"Da… Davis!?" Tai shouted "What are you doing?"

If Kari heard that plea, he did not respond. He just kept running into the studio. Even more strangely, he was holding his bookbag out in front of him, its zipper partly undone.

"We have to go after him." Davis immediately blurted out. "We can't have him hurting herself in there."

It was true. It was even genuine on her part. She wasn't callous enough to want Kari hurt for no reason. She also didn't want him getting away with her crown. She wasn't sure which of those things she was more concerned about, though she was sure it didn't matter.

The group ran after him. Despite starting in the lead Davis quickly fell toward their rear, only Yolie and Cody remaining behind him.

"Damnit! I'm still not fit enough in this body!"

She had always been a faster runner than TK back when she was a guy. For him to surpass her now was another offense to their renewed rivalry.

"At least I'm ahead of Yolie."

She had no rivalry with the nerdy girl, but being the fastest among girls her age counted for something, right? Heck, if she recalled correctly Yolie had been a faster runner than Kari back when he had this body. That had to mean training with the girls' soccer team was paying off. She was already improving her new form! That much did please her.

"Even more evidence that I deserve this body more!"

Between Kari's head start and the fitness he'd inherited with his new body, the group wasn't able to catch up to him by the time he reached his apparent destination. As the other digidestined entered that room, Kari was in the center, letting Gatomon out of his bag.

"It's the ghost!"

This time it was one of the digidestined that had made it here before Davis that yelled that. Looking up, she knew what they meant. A humanoid shadow was flying in circles across the ceiling at incredible speed.

Veemon charged in front of them, seemingly emboldened by the power of the ring.

"Don't worry everyone!" She said. "I'll take out the ghost!" The other digimon stayed in their partner's bookbags.

But before anyone else could react, Gatomon called out "Wait!"

"I'm here." he continued, this time looking up toward the shadow. "What do you want, Wizardmon?"

At the sound of that name several loud gasps rang out in tandem from the older digidestined, baring Jun of course. TK shared in the reaction. That Davis and Jun did not concerned her.

"Am I supposed to know what that name means?" She worried.

This time it was the shadow that beat the group to a reaction. At the same ungodly speed it had been circling the ceiling, it flew down the wall and then across the floor. Then a ghostly figure began rising from the shadow.

"Gatomon," It said looking at the DemiVeemon in front of it, "It is good to see you again."

Another collective gasp came out from the digidestined, this time including the younger kids and Jun.

"Wha… what's on." The former boy practically screamed inside her head. "What is that thing? Does… does it… know?"

Maybe she was mistaken. Veemon was also in front of the ghost. Maybe it was addressing her? Davis could only follow its eyes to the old Gatomon, however, the one in her partner's former body.

"I… I don't belive it." Kari almost whispered. "She… my partner said it was you… I had to hope it… but..."

"Who is that guy?" Cody asked. "Why did he call DemiVeemon Gatomon?"

"I… I wasn't mistaken." Davis thought horrified. "How… how is this happening!?"

For what it was worth, Gatomon seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"I… it's great to see you too, old friend." He said. "How… did you know it was me?"

"I don't have time to explain." It answered. "Listen carefully, I have a lot to tell you and not enough time for that either."

"This… this can't be happening."

It was all Davis could think. It… was she really being exposed by a ghost?

"Run."

That was her fight or flight instinct cutting in. Normally Davis would have chosen fight every time, but now… It was a scene out of a horror movie. She had never feared those before, sans the ones about ghosts following captivity by the Bakemon, that memory coming back when her coronation should have been... This… this was worse than that. Despite their resemblance to ghosts, that wasn't really what the Bakemon were. This… this thing before her now could only be the real deal. It wasn't even a movie, it was right there before her, and with what it was saying, it couldn't have been more terrifying if it foretold the end of the world.

"Lightning Paw!" Veemon cried out. Choosing fight instead of flight, she charged the ghost with that attack, but she just passed through him and the attack struck the floor behind it.

The attacked ghost just ignored Veemon and continued speaking. "Instead of being returned to what he once was, the one wrapped in darkness has drawn another into the shadows. With that boon, your enemy has become to powerful to defeat with even the power of the Golden Radiance."

"His true self..." former cat puzzled. "I don't understand. Are you saying someone else corrupted Davis?"

"Davis?" Sora puzzled. "What are you talking about? Isn't the Digimon Emperor our enemy?"

"Your true enemy is a much greater darkness than Davis or the Digimon Emperor, and the chain of corruption does not end there. The power of the Golden Radiance is still necessary, but it is not enough. To defeat the one wrapped in darkness, you must free the power of the Harmonious Beasts."

It paused for a moment and then said. "That is all I have time to say. I must go now".

"Wa.. Wizardmon!" Gatomon cried out. He reached out his stubby arm as if to try to touch the ghost. It responded in kind, reaching out an ethereal hand to grab his, but said hand just passed through the solid arm.

"I am sorry." It said, then it began flying backwards out the window. Gatomon tried to run after it, but tripped on his stubby DemiVeemon legs.

"Hurry." Was the last thing the ghost said before it disappeared from view.

Silence filled the room for several seconds after that. Most of the group had dumbfounded expressions on their faces, seemingly trying to process what had just happened, Davis included. Even though she knew at least why the ghost had referred to "DemiVeemon" as "Gatomon" not knowing who or what it was still boggled her mind. Surely the others were even more confused than she was. There had to be a way to exploit that. Surely she could get them to believe it had just spewed out nonsense…. And yet try as she might, she could not think of a way to to that.

Eventually Patamon broke the silence. His head pocking out of TK's bookbag, he turned it toward Veemon and began to speak.

"You aren't Gatomon, are you? Not the one we know anyway. Why would you attack Wizardmon if you were our Gatomon?"

"I..." Veemon began. "Of course I attacked him. He was threatening poor DemiVeemon here. Obviously all that crap about an enemy corrupting people was just meant to scare us. It's what ghosts do."

"But, it's Wizardmon." Mimi said. "You… you know him. You were his best friend. He died protecting you."

"He doesn't know Wziardmon, because he's not Gatomon." The first bearer of that name said. "He's not even a Gatomon at all. He's Veemon. I'm the Gatomon you know, and he stole my body."

"This can't be freaking happening!" Was all Davis could think.

"That's crazy." Jun said. "How could anyone have stolen your body?"

"The same way you stole Matt's, Jun!" The digimon replied. "With that cursed ring on your finger, and the one on his tail."

"Wha… you're Jun?" Joe exclaimed. "You stole Matt's body?"

"Wait," Sora butted in before he could react. "What about Davis? Is… did Wizardmon say he was our enemy?"

"Yes, because he's the ring leader of all of this." The former cat said. He turned to her, toward his partner's old body. "Isn't that right, Davis?

"I… I..." She couldn't respond.

She wasn't the only one speechless at the event. The look on Tai's face… The former boy did not know how to begin to describe the it. He had never been this pale before, and he was trembling all over.

Izzy turned to address her old body. "Is… is this true?"

The former girl feel to her knees then. He didn't answer the question, not directly, but his reaction could only have been a giant "YES!". He burst out crying and said. "I.. is this really happening? I… could I really be getting my life back?"

Everyone's eyes locked on Davis then.

"Whatever you did, Davis, undo it now!" It was TK that said that, her old rival. "Undo it now, or else!"

"TK, brother," Jun answered. "Su… surely you don't believe something this crazy." He stepped toward him.

"Don't come any closer to me, Jun!" The younger blond roared back. "And don't you dare call me that! Give my real brother his body back right now!"

"It's the ring on her finger." Gatomon said. "Take the ring and you can use it to switch us back."

"You give me that ring now!" He lunged at Jun, grabbing for the ring, but the former girl dodged out of the way.

"Never!" He said. "I'll never give up my wedding ring! None of you understand. Matt wants this as much as I do. We're soul mates."

"Liar!" Gatomon yelled. "I live with Matt now because of what you did. He's as disgusted by this as we are."

"You're the liar, monster!" was the response "You want this too. You just can't handle not being able to read anymore!"

"I said give me the ring!" TK interjected. It looked like he was going to charge him again for a second, but instead he just pulled out his D3.

"Digi-armor energize!"

His digimon flew out from the bookbag glowing.

"Patamon armor digivolve to Pegasusmon, Flying Hope!"

It was the winged horse that charged Jun then. The former girl screamed as he approached, falling onto his back.

"Lightning Paw!"

Veemon leaped at winged horse, striking him from the side just before he would have made contact with Jun. This knocked the larger digimon off course, and he crashed into the wall.

"You… you were going to kill me." Jun gasped, horror all over his face and voice. It was obviously his fear of digimon talking. His sibling could only imagine the what that charge must have been like for the recovering digiphobe. And from the look in both TK's and Pegusmon's eyes... Davis almost believed they wanted to kill him too.

Matt's words from long ago echoed in his mind "Just wait Jun. I promised that you would suffer. I promised that you would wish you were never born. I keep my promises." All she could think in response was "NO!"

Flight still felt like the best option. Toward the back of the group, Davis almost thought she could turn around and make a break for it the way they had come in, but that would be stupid. Jun could not follow her; he was in front of most of the group and would have to run through them. She couldn't abandon him, and even if she could bring herself to do that, she knew most of the group was faster than her anyway. Even if they didn't notice her leave, Yolie and Cody would. All they'd have to do was yell "He's getting away!" And the older digidestined would run after her. Right now they were dumbfounded by what was happening, but Davis could only imagine her running would spring them to attention.

She looked around the room. Jumping out the window was obviously a no go, but the former boy did see a better option. On the side of the room was a desk with a computer.

"The digital world!" She realized, hope swelling inside her. "With that thing we can escape to the digital world!"

She ran toward it. Most of the group was still looking forward at Jun, but Yolie noticed her.

"Where do you think you're going!?" She tried to grapple her former leader, but like her brother with TK, Davis successfully dodged. Before most of the group could turn around, she was behind the computer.

"Digiport open!"

The portal opened. Davis did not know what area it opened to; she didn't have time to look. Anywhere had to be better than here.

"Jun, let's go!"

He did not need to be told twice. On his feet in a flash, the former sister began running for the computer.

"Pegususmon! Don't let them escape!" TK yelled

His partner flew up into the air, obviously aiming an attack on them.

"Star Show..." Before the winged horse could finish speaking, he bashed into the ceiling. The room, large as it was, was to small to take full advantage of flight.

"Lightning Paw!"

Veemon leapt at the winged horse with an attack of her own. A small body like hers was far better suited for close-corners combat. Slightly stunned already by his crash against the ceiling, the armor digimon could not dodge and was once again sent flying sideways into a wall. This time he did not look to be getting up.

With that, Veemon had their would be captors cornered. If a Gatomon with a tail ring could punch out a Tyrannosaurus, what were a bunch of human kids?

"Upamon digivolve to, Armadillomon." "Poromon digivolve to, Hawkmon."

Of course, it wouldn't last long. Yolie and Cody had already drawn their D3's.

"And now, I leave." Davis thought, and with that she was through the portal.

On the other side of the digiport, the former boy found herself in a clearing in a rainforest. True to that name, it was down pouring all around.

Jun emerged from the portal as his sister turned back to look at it. Veemon came through a second later.

"It worked!" She exclaimed in her mind. "We made it."

"No!" Gatomon could be heard through the TV's speaker, the room they had just come from still visible on its screen. "We can't let them get away! Go after them!"

There was still one step left. Conveniently, Davis did not need to explain it. Veemon already had the idea. The both had the same inspiration.

"Tail whip!" she yelled. Leaping up into the air she came down ring first on the television. The tube instantly shattered into a million pieces. The sounds of the real world were silenced. It was like that time, just before the first switch, when the robot digimon had destroyed the gate and trapped Kari in the digital world. Now he was trapped on Earth, this area sealed off the real world. They had won. And yet…

Free of that immediate danger, she finally had a chance to contemplate what had just happen. They had won the battle… but they had lost the war. Everything they had gained from the switch… was gone. They had woken up this morning on top of the world… and now the world was crashing down around them.

She fell to the ground, in a fetal position. "Oh my god!" She yelled "This can't be happening!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes for this chapter can be found here: https://go-lookaway.tumblr.com/post/189379870712/where-the-shadows-lie-chapter-13-ghost-of-a As you can see, I wound up changing the fanfiction.net version slightly differently than described there, however.


End file.
